A sustained spell can be broken at the most inconvenient of times by a mere jostle. If the mage doesn't want to risk that, he better pay for the foci, in cash and karma.

How?

SR4A, page 184, "If a magician’s concentration is disrupted while sustaining a spell, she must make a Spellcasting + Willpower (2) Test to avoid dropping the sustained spell (note that the sustaining modifier does not apply to this test)."

Ah, we now have a wonderful use for the Turbotickle spell...

SR4A p.183 - spellcasting link requires either touch or LOS.

Well, sort of as silly as using Reaction to dodge a fireball covering you and everything within 5 metres of you.

So spell/grenade is going to end up where the attacker targeted it (limited by his skill).

It is the targets that are going to be the ones moving around.

As a GM, I would feel free to move the targets around a little to represent their diving for cover.

That is good, but unfortunately by RAW the grenade moves and not the target.

Interesting Interpretation. Can't agree with it.

@Irion: That is not a problem, you are not supposed to target a point in space with grenades, you are supposed to pick a (primary) target who dodges in the aforementioned manner.

According to the rules, you're completely wrong.

Make a standard ranged attack test using the attacker’s Agility + appropriate combat skill (Throwing Weapons or Heavy Weapons), opposed by the target. If targeting a location, treat this as a Success Test instead.
Next, the gamemaster must determine the grenade’s base scatter. All grenades scatter to some degree, but an attacker who made a good attack can limit the distance the grenade scatters.
The gamemaster determines the direction of the scatter by rolling 1D6 and consulting the Scatter Diagram. The large arrow indicates the direction of the throw, so a result of 1 means the grenade continued on past the target, while a result of 4 means the grenade bounced back in the direction of the attacker.
Having determined the direction of the scatter, the gamemaster next calculates its base distance. The Scatter Table indicates the number of dice rolled to find the scatter distance. Airburst grenades only roll 2D6 for scatter (see Airburst Link, p. 322).
The attacker reduces this scatter distance by 1 meter per net hit for standard grenades or 2 meters per net hit for aerodynamic grenades and grenade launchers. If the scatter distance is reduced to 0 or less, the grenade hits the target exactly. (Note that additional hits do not add to grenade Damage Values). Otherwise, the grenade lands at the remaining distance in the direction indicated.

Make a standard ranged attack test using the attacker’s Agility + appropriate combat skill (Throwing Weapons or Heavy Weapons), opposed by the target.If targeting a location, treat this as a Success Test instead.

What I meant was, you are not supposed to target a point in space, if you are trying to hit a target that can dodge. Nobody would ever throw a grenade at a person, unless the rules say you have to.

are you saying that the rules don't support aiming for the space between two targets with a grenade?

Yes.

It's just the rules say the complete opposite of what you're saying.

I agree... with Dakka Dakka. You are completely incorrect on this point.

QFT

Man IMNBNNEFTI because I had to look up what QFT meant...

(IMNBNNEFTI = "I must not be nearly nerdy enough for the Internet")



-D

Regardless of the availability of the success test, as soon as someone does choose the opposed test, the defender moves the grenade. The defender is not displaced by dodging but the grenade explodes farther away from him if he scores more hits. This of course is silly, but unfortunately that is what the rules say.

The question is, when will that actually make a big difference. Remember hits are capped by force. Only edge dice can exceed that limit. So the one method of spending edge (rerolling the misses in the dice pool) that is most effective for most characters (high dice pool compared to edge pool) is still subject to the cap.

I take it that's the same for casting a stunbolt at multiple targets with edge?

But the Force of each individual spell is not limited by the splitting of the dice pool. The spellcaster can assign whatever Force she likes to each spell.

Given that...I suppose it would make sense to cast each of those spells individually.
Woe to the guy tho has to wait til I'm sustaining 4 spells.

I take it that's the same for casting a stunbolt at multiple targets with edge?

At least in my opinion that is one of the advantages of casting simultaneously. Since you cast all four spells at the same time you are not sustaining them yet. So no dice pool would get a reduction.

That sounds hilarious. You may want to do the math before actually trying it as all three spells need many net hits to be effective.
Additionally there is no horizontal movement from clout by RAW, and you only risk slipping on the ice sheet if you cross the sheet. So reaching the wall of fire may be a bit difficult. Magic fingers would probably initiate the trick more effectively.

Or you could skip the Rube Goldberg machine and just stunbolt them.