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CrystalBlue
Ok. I'm making a Fox Shaman for use for some games and I need some help with some of the rules.

On Sorcery: My character has a Combat Pool of 8, Spell Pool of 5, and a Sorcery Skill of 6. I cast a spell, doesn't matter what kind right now. How many dice can I put into the spell from my pools if it's during combat and not during combat.

On Spells: I'm picking my spells, and it's obvious that I'm picking a lot of Illusion spells. The direct illusion spells all have a target number of the force of the spell to resist and to cast, if I remember correctly. All of the indirect illusions have a target number and it's stated that they use intellegence to resist. Now, let's say I'm casting Camouflage, a spell I planed on using a lot. I roll for a base target number of 4. One success gets me the +4 to perception tests and ranged combat against me. Do onlookers and people firing at me make a resist test?
Herald of Verjigorm
Most spells: 6 (sorcery) + 5(spell pool) +- totem effects
Elemental manipulations: 6 (sorcery) + 6 (spell and/or combat pool) +- totem effects
Relevant foci do not count toward the pool access limit, but have their own limits.

If the viewer fails to resist your spell (you retain at least one net success after their resistance test), then they face the +4s. Record your successes on the casting, and the potential viewers each roll intelligence, each one that meets or beats your success count is unaffected by the spell.
Vaevictis
Just for what it's worth -- it seems like you think that combat pool can be used to aid in spellcasting if it's done in combat. You can't. When you cast a spell, you get a certain number of dice equal to Sorcery+Foci+Totem Modifier+Any Spell Pool you want to commit. You then use any number of this pool you choose to actually cast the spell, and the remainder is added to your willpower for the drain resistance test.
CrystalBlue
Grrrr...now that's no good. Alright. That means I need to jack up the force on my spells so I'm not detectable. And I'm still a little sketchy on the sustaining of spells. How do I sustain a spell and then cast more spells?
ShadowGhost
QUOTE (Herald of Verjigorm @ Jul 5 2005, 05:08 PM)
Elemental manipulations: 6 (sorcery) + 6 (spell and/or combat pool) +- totem effects

Combat pool is never added to spells.

Elemental spells are treated as ranged combat (using ranged combat rules for lighting, visibility, cover, movement, etc), but still do not get combat pool added to the spell.


You either cast the spell to be sustained into an appropriate sustaining focus, or you add +2 to all TN for any spells cast while you (not your focus) sustains the previous spell.

If you have taken the Focused Concentration Edge, then it's only a +1 per spell sustained when casting a new spell.
Vaevictis
Well, first off, sustaining is automatic. If a spell is sustainable, you sustain it until you are forced to or choose to drop it. It imposes a +2TN to all actions while you sustain it unless you have the Focused Concentration edge which reduces it to +1TN.

For purposes of illusion spells, do keep in mind that it's resisted by intelligence, so all you have to do is get successes in excess of the opponent's intelligence rating to guarantee that they won't see through it, even at force 1. My mage will often drop all his spell pool into casting force 1 improved invisibility, roll 12 dice, and get ~6 successes. Anyone with less than 6 intelligence -- which is almost everyone -- simply cannot generate enough successes to resist it. Even people with 6 will often fail, because there's a pretty high probability they'll roll at least a single one when resisting. Higher force makes it harder to resist, it's true, but it's not always necessary.
tisoz
Don't forget that the opposition may be protected by spell defence.
Vaevictis
AFAIK, indirect illusions are unafffected by spell defense because indirect illusions do not target anyone. But you are correct for the purposes of direct illusions.

In any case, I don't usually worry much about spell defense, because usually if the enemy is capable of spell defense, they are also capable of astral sight, which will also nullify the illusion.
ShadowGhost
QUOTE (Vaevictis)
AFAIK, indirect illusions are unafffected by spell defense because indirect illusions do not target anyone. But you are correct for the purposes of direct illusions.

In any case, I don't usually worry much about spell defense, because usually if the enemy is capable of spell defense, they are also capable of astral sight, which will also nullify the illusion.

The viewer of an indirect illusion is the target of the spell, and as such if a character has spell defense allocated, they get to use those spell defense dice along with their intelligence to resist the illusion.

This is important, especially when a mage has allocated spell defense to mundane members of the party who do not have astral sight - it gives them extra dice to resist those spells.

When it comes to illusion spells:
What you cast the spell on is the subject of the spell. Those who view the illusion are the Targets of the spell. So yes, spell defense always applies.
Vaevictis
QUOTE (ShadowGhost)

The viewer of an indirect illusion is the target of the spell...


Invisibility, sr3.195: "This spell makes the subject invisible to normal vision... Attacks against invisible targets suffer the blind fire modifer if the attacker is unable to see or otherwise sense the target of the spell."

Mask, sr3.195: "The mask spell alters the target's voice, scent... The target assumes a physical appearance..."

Stealth, sr3.196: "Stealth is cast on a target who becomes inaudible to normal hearing."

Spell defense, sr3.183: "Whenever a protected subject is the target of a spell, the magician senses it and may use allocated Spell Defense dice to "block" the incoming spell."

OTOH, MITS.55 contradicts this: "Indirect illusions are cast on a subject person or area. Anyone who views that person or area is a target of the spell."

So I guess you are correct in that my statement was incorrect, but I guess you have to go to each individual spell description, because as written, some of them are not subject to spell defense.
ShadowGhost
Anything that requires a spell resistance test (i.e. trying to see through any illusion) also means that spell defense add dice to that resistance test. There is no spell that is not subject to, or ignores spell defense.

This is one of those cases where the writers have mixed and matched their words, and then clarified them in MITS. MITS rules for spells take precedence over the earlier SR3 rules, so, the MITS rules for Indirect Illusions take precedence over the SR3 rules.

QUOTE
Invisibility, sr3.195: "This spell makes the subject invisible to normal vision... Attacks against invisible targets suffer the blind fire modifer if the attacker is unable to see or otherwise sense the target of the spell."

Here the invisible person, is the Target, of the attack. The attacker is the Target of the invisible man's spell. Spell defense applies.

Even Detection spells work like this, and all detection spells are resisted, even through the spell is cast nowhere near the targets (those beings the spell is trying to detect), much less 'at' the targets.
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