I am wrapping my head around the preparations and understand that a lynchpin has to remain intact for it to be able to trigger, fair enough.

Once the spell goes off, if it has a duration the spell is sustained for (potency) minutes. All well and good.

But the question I have is, does the lynchpin have to remain intact throughout said duration or if it is damaged would that end the sustained spell early?

Had a thought about Capture Arrows, basically Arrow with a lynchpin stuck on a sticky beanbag-like head (non-lethal) with a Physical Barrier spell set for Dome Shape.

Idea is shoot the target, assuming they fix the contact trigger issue in forthcoming magic splats or fall back on a command once I see its on the target, stored barrier is triggered and a big shiny dome pops around the target, keeping them contained while we get closer to subdue.

But, if the critter inside now destroys the arrowhead, would that break the sustained spell prematurely? If it was a mage, knocking out the mage can break a sustained spell, but not sure if lynchpin plays the same or not and not seeing this explained beyond duration based on Potency.

I'd say once it activates the lynchpin did its job and the spell does its thing.

Or else a healing potion would never work since once you drink it, the subject's stomach acids would destroy the lynchpin making it pointless. And I like the ideas of potions too much to allow ambiguous rules to mess with that.

I'd say the only reason you even need a lynchpin is to hold the magic of the preparation in a dormant state until it is needed. The preparation itself is a magical construct - the lynchpin is just a "container" for that magic. When the lynchpin triggers you could Counterspell the effect, but in my opinion destroying the lynchpin itself shouldn't stop the magic from going off once it's been activated.

~Umi

I thought as much, especially in the case of potions, but with a sustained effect normally requiring a mage to maintain a minimum effort of focus, just wondered if the same applied via the lynchpin.

It would be easier if once the spell triggers the lynchpin is no longer required as part of the ongoing equation, but always good to double check.

I actually started a thread a while back asking about how preparation sustaining works, among other things.

The answer seems to have been a few quiet coughs, some awkard shuffling of feet, and a unanimous agreement that we'd probably just have to wait for the splat books...

~Umi

Make a grenade a contact trigger for a domed barrier for the extra chunky salsa damage. And to protect your team too.

That's brilliant. Though I don't know if the barrier would be able to stand up to the explosion.

Well This would be easier post splat with the [Grenade] Barrier spell, But the barrier will fail eventually with all that pressure.