QUOTE (Chrome Head @ Feb 19 2015, 05:12 PM)
Well, I just have a gripe about the movement happening in one go. Say, if I delay to act at the same time as the intended target of an area spell, can I use my complex action while they use theirs, and so I move the spell along the same path at the same time? I mean, I wouldn't like this weird side effect of turn-by-turn action to be the reason for this not to be possible, especially when you have higher initiative.
You can delay your action until the same time as the target (page 161) and but then ties are broken by ERIC.
For example, you go at 25, and your target at 19. You delay until 19 and then act. You have the option of declaring you can move before him at 20, or after him at 18, or at the same time as him at 19, but if you declare at the same Initiative, who actually acts first is based on ERIC. It does say that if your ERIC scores are tied, then flip a coin, or at the GM's discretion they may act simultaneously.
That being said, the game seems to go a long way to avoid people acting truly simultaneously.
I also think that the idea, if this helps, is not that you are literally moving the sphere of magic across the ground - think of it rather as it disappears and reappears wherever you want it. After all, you can move it 1 meter or literally miles, depending on what sort of line of sight you have.
For example, Physical Barrier - if it worked as you describe, i.e. you can move it around from point A to point B and the barrier literally
moves from point A to point B, you could use it as a giant hand, swatting aside everyone in its path, and it isn't really supposed to do that. You could, however, cause the barrier to disappear and reappear in a new spot, without having to recast it.
QUOTE (Chrome Head @ Feb 19 2015, 05:12 PM)
On the other side of this weirdness, if I move a Mass Confusion spell onto new targets, then they become affected (barring appropriate tests) without needing me to re-cast? Also as a consequence of what you were saying, if they move out and I move the spell back onto them (or even worse: if I move the spell away intentionally and then back on their position), do they get to take the test again, potentially suffering the effects more than before?
Basically, yes. You cast the spell, and get lets say 3 hits. You now resist drain once, and are considered sustaining a spell (suffering the -2 dice penalty - which can be mitigated by Focused Concentration, etc). Until you drop that spell, you can move it around at will (well, each time using a Complex Action to do so) and every time a target is exits the area of effect (whether that is because he moves out of it, or you move it away from him), he no longer suffers the effects. Each time the AoE covers him again, he has to resist. Yes, this could mean that he suffers a worse effect or he could suffer a better one.
I.e. you cast the spell on him and get 3 hits, and he is in the blast. He gets 2 hits, and suffers only a -1 die penalty. You move it away from him, and then move it back onto him, hoping he will roll more poorly. He could, or he could roll better this time and the spell will have no effect. Also bear in mind that to do that, you've used up 3 Complex actions (1 to cast, 2 to move, and 3 to move again).
