QUOTE (Ryu @ Mar 17 2009, 01:37 PM)
A shadowrun mage can start the game with a mentor spirit (combat spells +2), spellcasting spec on combat spells, and an force 3 (without quality) combat spell focus. All those are dicepool-modifiers. Which according to DS lore has some nice benefit if the basic dicepool has to be split. You could conveivably cast 3 force 3 manabolts, netting 14 dice overall, compared to one rating 11 manabolts, that not all mages can even cast (my Fomori druid certainly can´t). At the high end, that does not matter. Dead is dead. On the lower end, you´ll bleed from the ears now.
Multicasting is still a viable option, but much more in line. I might even mention it to my group. And yeah, nice that indirect spells get a leg up.
Just so I understand this, the above three modifiers would add +7 dice to each of the three spells being cast simultaneously, is that correct? I get this from
SR4 (p. 173) saying the casting of multiple spells splits the "Magic + Spellcasting dicepool". So presumably the modifiers come after the split. This corresponds to modifiers for range, laser sights, etc. applying to two weapons being fired at once.
So:
1)
MAG 6 plus Spellcasting 6 gives you 12 dice, split 3 ways makes 4 dice each, with each one bumped by modifiers to 11 dice. The Drain on each of these manabolts would be (F/2) + 2 {for the extra spells}. For the example given of Force 3 spells, the Drain would be 3S for each of the spells. In the SR4 mode, this is not bad and likely to be soaked. The damage done, again in SR4 would be that of 3 spells at DV 3, bumped by, say, (3 hits - 2 opposing hits [estimate]=) 1 to make 3 spells that do DV 4. This adds to DV 12 damage, with no serious chance of Drain.
If one were to change the Force of these three spells to Force 5, then the cumulative damage would be DV 18 (!!), with three Drain Resistance Tests of 4S.2)
Conversely, overcasting one manabolt to Force 12 would give 12 + 7 = 19 dice. The Drain would be 6P, and the damage would be DV 12, bumped by (6 hits - 2 opposing hits=) 4 to make 1 spell that does DV 16, with a significant chance of Drain damage.
Both 1) and 2) do overkill damage to the target. Overcasting hurts, while the multiple-undercasting does not.
Now:
In the SR4A schema, the Drain for 1) the multiple low Force spells, would be 3 shots of 4S (or 3S if the extra hits are 'pulled' to reduce Drain, in which case DV would be 9 not 12), each resisted separately, and for 2) the single overcast spell, would be 10P, or at the very least 6P if extra hits are 'pulled', in which case DV = 12. One of the three little guys could be left at 4S Drain to make the damage DV 10, still a kill.
As shown in this example, overcasting does not have a greater effect on the target than undercasting (if multiple shots are taken), but it does still increase the danger of Drain.
This example does not support the current argument that the changes to Drain in SR4A encourage overcasting. What it does suggest is that multiple-casting has been an under-explored and under-utilized technique for doing 'one-shot kills' that split the Drain into smaller, more manageable chunks. In the SR4 system, the multi-shots could be juggled to min-max hits and Drain. The SR4A system would appear to recognize this ability to kill with little guys, and makes that juggling more difficult. It would seem to me that if anything, the SR4A system reduces the effectiveness/attractiveness of one-shot kills with multiple, low-Force spells.
The SR4A system, then, says, "If you want to kill all at once, you will have to use high Force to do it, or pay the price of Drain even in the little spells."Hmmm. Isn't that what people want to be the case?