Do you have to split up your counterspelling dice for spell defense between all the people that you are protecting? It never says that you do in the rules. It does mention that if an area affect spell effects multiple targets that you are protecting that you only roll once for all the targets instead of for each target seperately.
Example.
A shadowrun team's mage is going to use his counterspelling skill to protect the group of 5 other runners from spells this turn. His counter spelling skill is 4. So does each runner including himself get 4 extra dice to resist spells or does he have to split up the 4 dice among the different runners?
Full Version: Counterspell - Spell Defense
No. Everybody gets all the dice.
Also...selecting targets for Counterspelling is a free action. Does the magician need to take this action every turn, or just once per combat?
Once you've selected them they stay protected until you elect to stop protecting them or they leave your line of sight. Assuming you want to and maintain a position where you can, you wouldn't even have to declare it in combat. I wouldn't let it stay up all the time, but just prior to going on a mission would be cool. Spell Defense is always active for the caster though, so it would never matter what the situation was there.
I don't remember if it specifies you have to be awake to use SD. If so then it might not be actuve on the mage while he's napping.
I don't remember if it specifies you have to be awake to use SD. If so then it might not be actuve on the mage while he's napping.
It actually implies that you cannot use spell defense (on yourself or others) if you are suprised, so I would imagine you can't while you are asleep either.
EDIT: It's the last sentance of the first paragraph under the Spell Defense Heading PG 175 BBB for all the referencemongers.
EDIT: It's the last sentance of the first paragraph under the Spell Defense Heading PG 175 BBB for all the referencemongers.
I thought it specified somewhere that spell defense is always active on yourself.
Same place actually, it says
| QUOTE (BBB pg. 175) |
| Note that a magician can always use Counterspelling to defend herself, unless surprised. |
Emphasis added.
Cool. Thanks for the quote!
I'm pretty sure the modifier on a Surprise test for being unconcious is pretty severe 
If the spell affects an area do you have to counterspellthe area or can you just counterspell on you buddy in the center?
Even if you cast the spell?
Even if you cast the spell?
area spells can be counterspelled for only part of the area, if you so desire.
[edit] to clarify, you only have to counterspell for the parts you are protecting. if you are protecting something, i believe you have to give it those spell defense dice. however, if you only have spell defense on half of the things in an area, you don't dispel the entire spell, just the parts that target the things you are defending. i hope that was more clear than it looks to me lol [/edit]
[edit] to clarify, you only have to counterspell for the parts you are protecting. if you are protecting something, i believe you have to give it those spell defense dice. however, if you only have spell defense on half of the things in an area, you don't dispel the entire spell, just the parts that target the things you are defending. i hope that was more clear than it looks to me lol
[/edit]
So theoretically you could give your team spell defense and then let them wade into a large group of bad guys and start chucking area spells ?? And you would then have to help your guys defend against them ? lol.
That has to be a great way to pick up chicks. Hey ladies check this out i can take a fireball from my mage friend. (subvocal to mge friend, ok dude hit me) Mage friend sends down giant fireball on friend and he ends up resisting or something from the counterspell the mage had already given him.
That has to be a great way to pick up chicks. Hey ladies check this out i can take a fireball from my mage friend. (subvocal to mge friend, ok dude hit me) Mage friend sends down giant fireball on friend and he ends up resisting or something from the counterspell the mage had already given him.
This is also an excellent way to blast the snot out of a cluster of guys from a nice dark lurky corner. Let your meat shield melee guy draw their fire/attention and then nuke his site from orbit (it's the only way to be sure), feeding him spell defense so he can walk it off and everyone within X meters can't. It's my mages plan when he gets into melee as well, Manaball on my own head.
| QUOTE (lawndart) |
| It's my mages plan when he gets into melee as well, Manaball on my own head. |
That one's tricky. Technically, Manaball centered on yourself isn't a winning strategy if you're surrounded. It'll only affect the targets who are in your field of view at the time you cast the spell.
Considering the general efficiency of spell defense, I´d advice against even protected team members inside the area of effect of a medium-to-high-force manaball. But it can be done by one mage.
What if your rolling with more than one mage?? Do you get spell defense dice from both if they give it to you?
| QUOTE (Abbandon) |
| What if your rolling with more than one mage?? Do you get spell defense dice from both if they give it to you? |
Huh. I don't remember seeing a rule on it. However, I see three options:
1) Target rolls Body or Willpower as appropriate, plus all of the counterspelling dice from everyone who's covering him. This is almost certainly not legit, since it would be a case where you were rolling a test of Stat + Skill + Skill...it just doesn't fit into the standard SR4 framework.
2) Target rolls the appropriate stat + the best individual counterspelling anyone is offering him. This one has my vote for best mix of appropriateness and ease of use.
3) Target rolls the appropriate stat. All of the mages offering him counterspelling roll their counterspelling dice. Target adds in the hits of whichever magician rolled best. This would reward cross-coverage, but it would also complicate play.
Teamwork test?
| QUOTE (Moon-Hawk) |
| Teamwork test? |
Huh. That might work pretty well, actually. And if you required the supprting counterspellers to use the 'buy hits with dice' rule, you'd keep the amount of rolling under control.
| QUOTE (Nim) | ||
Huh. That might work pretty well, actually. And if you required the supprting counterspellers to use the 'buy hits with dice' rule, you'd keep the amount of rolling under control. |
| QUOTE (SR4 Pgs. 175-176) |
| Spell Defense A magician can use Counterspelling to defend herself and others against a spell being cast. To do this, the magician must spend a Free Action and declare who she is protecting. If Counterspelling was not declared in advance, it may not be used to defend others, unless the magician has delayed her action (see Delayed Actions, p. 134). A protected character must also stay within the magician’s line of sight in order for Counterspelling to be used. Note that a magician can always use Counterspelling to defend herself, unless surprised. When a protected character is targeted with a spell, she rolls Counterspelling dice in addition to the appropriate attribute (Body or Willpower) for the resistance test. Hits generated on this test reduce the net hits of the spell’s caster as with any Opposed Test. If multiple protected characters are targeted by the same spell, the Counterspelling dice are rolled only once and each target is protected equally. If more than one magician protects a target with Counterspelling, handle it as teamwork (see p. 59). Note that Counterspelling is not “used up” aft er it defends against a spell—it continues to protect the designated characters against other spells until the magician decides to end it. A magician who is actively Counterspelling can even defend against spells she is unaware of—specifi cally, Detection spells and Illusion spells—as the magician is actively “jamming” the mana around him. Th is does not mean, however, that the magician is aware such spells are being used. Th e gamemaster should make a secret Magic + Intuition (3) Test to determine if (and to what extent) the magician noticed the defense. Using Counterspelling to defend against a spell as it is cast does not cause Drain. Glitches: A glitch on the Counterspelling Test might “defl ect” the spell onto another (friendly) target, or might cause the magician to suff er the Drain of the spell she is trying to counter (if the spell’s Force is greater than her Magic attribute, the Drain causes Physical damage). A critical glitch on the test could make both the original target(s) and the Counterspelling magician suff er the full eff ects of the spell. |
It is a teamwork test for multiple counterspelling mages.
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