Mundanes Defense against Magic. Of the many things a SpellSlinger needs to work the magic and hit the PoorDude with a spell such as the "magic" attribute, familiarity with the spell, common sense not to throw it to close to gas mains, the most important <IMHO> would be their Confidence, Self-Esteem, and Faith. What attribute would they fall under? Willpower. So momentarily Spell Slingers Willpower is stronger then PoorDudes, so PoorDude is toast. However what if say BobbyBitchslap has way more Willpower then Spellslinger, Could Bobby possibly be allowed a chance to roll on Willpower against of say a Target Number of Spellslinger's Willpower for a chance at negating, or at least lessening the damage that Spellslingers ManaBolt is about to do to him.

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You don't want criticisms.

i dunno, fortune. we could call it a "spell resistance" roll. of course, it'd only be useful against spells that use Willpower as the TN. maybe for other spells, you could use the targeted attribute to resist. i think this is a swell idea!

And no I was not stoned, not tonight anyways. I was completely sober when that thought sprouted completely from my brain.

Not if you want to maintain any sort of power in magic.

This is something that mages can not yet do (don’t point out spell defence they usually spread it around in my experience and it takes foreknowledge (or paranoia) to use it). Thus mages would have to be allowed this roll as well.

Also note that you are giving every character the magic resistance edge at a level equal to there willpower for free.

I believe that this rule would nerf offensive spell casting from its already pricy and dangerous position to almost complete uselessness.

So the short answer is NO.

Edward

I think Willpower already plays a large enough part -- it's the TN of the spell in the first place, it's what the mundane target rolls to resist (and perhaps wholly negate the spell), etc, etc. Adding another roll in there, and a contested one at that, would go a long way towards wholly neutering the effectiveness of those spells. If you were to implement a rule like this, I think it would call for a drastic change in the Drain Code (at the very least) of Mana spells, as their ability has just dropped significantly compared to other magical options.

And what sort of precedent do you mean to be setting? Do you want similar options for contested Quickness rolls (on top of dodging and soaking) whenever someone gets shot at, or Body tests when someone's the target of a physical spell? Why boost Willpower and pick on Mana spells, alone?

Here's a thought. What about having spell resistance for some? I'm thinking about priority system here... perhaps if you put D magic (or C magic if a dwarf or orc), your character can roll their willpower against the force of any spell that directly effects them to reduce the successes on the spell for them only (heal spells included).

So you'd have mundane humans not stinking so much in the priority system, for one thing. Say it's not terribly common, but it happens.

JaronK

That's a freebee for mundane humans under the Priority System. A, B, and C are all used for Skills, Attributes, and Resourses, and E for Human, so D would automatically be every single human's choice, and make everyone magic resistant.

I'd be more inclinded to support a bioware, genetech, and/or hybrid nanoware that supplys Magic Resistance dice. That or simply buy a Quickened Spell Barrier.

Just have a grade 10+ initiate put a force 10 slaughter [magician] spell in a ancoring focus for you, triggered by a detect magic spell. It is the perfect defense agaist magic.

Since magic is already resisted by mundanes such a rule would be redundant. It would allow mundanes to resist twice. Some genetech that mimics the Magical Resistance edge would be cool but anything more would be overkill.

This house rule is redundant, and seriously cripples mages, since it essentially allows every target to make two resistance rolls against the same spell. A mage is already splitting his dice three ways (spellcasting, Drain resistance, and spell defense), and even if he puts everything into an attack it could still fail.

If "Bobby" has a high Willpower, then the mage is already in trouble. The target number for the mage to affect Bobby is equal to Bobby's Willpower, and then Bobby gets to roll that Willpower to resist the spell. So if Bobby has a Willpower of 6, then the mage is rolling against a TN of 6, then Bobby gets to roll 6 dice to reduce those successes - and if the mage can't get at least one net success, then the spell does... nothing.

Weredigo, I don't care what you say, you had to have been higher than a blimp to have written that. Or from another country...and Arizona doesn't quite fit the criteria there.

And, as it stands, willpower for resisting manabolt is just fine. Should people get armor against bullets for having higher body? Nuh uh. I like it how it is.

Deisel, I take no offense at all. Even other Geeks call me "out there".

I dunno...any geek who can use the word "flagellance" in a sentence which involves internal body parts is a little further than merely "out there".

*wince* BAD mental image there.

However you now have images with which you can flagellate your GM. Happy flogging!

Thanks Doc, I'll take that as a Compliment...

Well. I believe what you're suggesting, what with an attribute test there, is already covered in the core rules. I do believe you're on the right track, however, and I'm certainly a firm advocate for better mudane defences against awakened attacks. That is, aside from relying on some -other- caster type.

One solution I've seen? Knowledge skill: Magical Resistance. What is it? Well, SR3 outlines that some skills can be complimentary to certain rolls associated with them.

I'm sure this isn't a new concept for most of you old hands out there, but it's a skill available to both mundanes and awakened that covers techniques, mindstates, and the catch-all general know-how of resisting spells above and beyond the basic 'Focus your willpower', or 'Prepare your body'. I've seen it go from breathing techniques, forced alternating thought patterns, to flat out muscular training.

Naturally, you've got to -see- the spell coming before you can apply the skill. So a clever mage with an ambush laid, or a relatively benign force level can still sneak past it. But, you know. It's certainly something, and given that it's rolled as a complimentary skill against the normal TN they'd otherwise be facing, I haven't encountered very many PCs opposed to the idea. Two, -maybe- three successes out of it? Definitely not gamebreaking here.

TheRoleModel

Not in my game! And definitely not in canon! If you want magic resistance, take the Edge.

Sure. There's always the edge.

But, first and foremost (That has such a great ring to it, doesn't it? First and foremost. It sounds so, oh I don't know - wait, yes I do! - commanding and important!) not everyone plays with edges/flaws and the new level of munchkinism that it breeds. And, uh, secondly, like previously stated...

...I'm -all- about mundanes resisting spells!

So. For all of you open minded GMs that don't have a playerbase over-run with the magic obsessed newbies, by all means, give it a shot.

Or don't. And kick your mundanes in the shin, and tell them to go clean the kitchen next gaming session instead. Whatever.

-RtotheizzyMtothedrizzop

Sure thing. I'm all for it. If anything, intelligent players that go through with things like that are perhaps my favorite kind. (The newbies are are a close second, but only because it's -so cute- when they discover they can add disposable spell foci, spell pool, summoned elementals, -and- all of their sorcerry dice into a single Control Actions spell. Then use karma pool to reroll for successes a couple times. It's just that afterglow that lights up on their face. Like a woman that's waited years to finally get a great lay.)

And really, I encourage that kind of a solution. But. You know. Sometimes it's not enough.

-TheRoleModel