Howdy, I am very new to shadowrun but I have read most of 3rd Ed Basebook, Magic in the Shadows, and Man and Machine, and there is 1 thing I don't really understand, spell drain.

I see how +1(M) is just half the force of the spell plus 1 and moderate, but the thing that throws me off is when there is a +1 or +2 inside the ().

And another thing, So I choose the force that I cast a spell for all spells? In the descripion of some they say what the force limits on the spell and so forth but on some it doesn't say anything about it at all, so why would't people for those spells always use just 1 force to take less drain? Unless I totally read everything wrong it doesnt make much sense. Thanks.

BTW is there a newbie or help subforum on here? I didn't see one. Thanks again.

the +1 or +2 inside the drain code is used with variable drain spells so that stages up the drain damage. For example a fireball spell has a drain code of +1 (Damage Level +2). If this spell were force 6 and you cast the spell at a base Moderate level of damage, the drain would be 4(D). SR3 Pg 191 has the relevant passage.

Magicians generally take higher force spells because they are 1) harder to resist and 2) harder to dispell. Some spells are okay at Force 1, such as Healthy Glow or Fashion, but a good deal of the spells a character gets will likely be high force, since a lot of spells have much stronger effects at higher levels.

Let's use Stunball as an example. Its Drain Code is listed as -1[+1 DL]. That means that if you were to cast the spell at Force 6, and choose to do a base of Serious damage, the final Drain Code would be 2[D].

If the spell description does not specify that it is somehow limited by Force, then it isn't. There are some exceptions when trying to affect non-living objects with certain spells, in which case the spell's Force must be at least equal to the Object Resistance rating of the thing to be affected.

This forum is fine to use for asking any questions you have. Welcome to Dumpshock.

Wow you guys are quick. Thanks a ton, I didn't think of the resist or dispeling.

In the case of stunbolt, you'd want high force because the force is your opponent's TN to resist the damage. So a force 2 stunbolt would be resisted on a target number of 2 by your opponent's willpower, which isn't too hard, but a force 6 stunbolt would require 6's.

JaronK

Also note; it's true that some spells aren't limited by Force (the infamous IncrReflex+3), but most of them are. Most Health, Manips, and Detects have either ranges, number of successes, or total effect based on the Force. Even the ones that aren't directly limited (most Combats and Illusions) are Resisted, so they are their own limitations as others have said. It's important to read the descriptions for specifics.