Book 2, Of Magicks and Miracles

Oops. This "Magecraft Mode" should be labelled as "Hexmaster Mode"

Steve Turner and David Blewitt

Example A
A Mage has placed a Fireball spell into a flagon of wine with the trigger spell - "Trigger when drunk by Duc Eduoardof Trieste". If anyone other than the King drinks the wine nothing happens, but if the King drinks some wine the spell triggers. It will try to initially target the King based on the Casters Mode of Magick TSC less the Kings MR.

If the King is stationary then a bonus of 10% is achieved. The targetting chance could be improved by the caster meditating before casting the spell in the wine. It could also be improved if the caster has something personal of the king such as a hair (ie hair trigger ).

Example B
A ML 5 Caster wishes to guard a room. He places a spell on a flagstone. For example a combination spell - Create Salamander Fire + Command Salamander Fire into a column + Intensify Fire + Trigger ("Trigger when anything stands on the flagstone"). [NB this spell is similiar to the D&D Clerical spell Flame Strike and does 20 points of energy damage and criticals on a 6-10 for a further 10 points of initial damage] If anything should step on the flagstone the spell triggers and does not need to make a targetting roll, it is a fixed area of effect. The caster can bypass the spell by using the Trigger Arm and Trigger Disarm spells which allow a caster to bypass any spells that HE HIMSELF has prepared.

RULE OF THUMB
If a spell with a "Trigger When" condition is aimed at a specific individual then a targetting roll should be made. If aimed generally, ie at ground zero then no targetting roll is required.

Example C
A ML 15 Diviner has cast the spell Detect Enemies into a sword along with an extend spell (Duration is now 90 minutes with a range of 600 feet). He has also placed the Trigger spell "Trigger when the command word Protect is spoken and if enemies are present trigger Eldritch Light on the blade". (If the sword has been created as an Item of power then the spells will have a cost in charges and the sword may be able to recharge itself).

Now the detection spell triggers and doesn't need to target anyone in the area. Any enemies in the area are permitted their save and only if one fails does the Eldritch Light spell trigger.

Example D
A Mage has cast the spell Enchanted Sleep onto a spinning wheel with the trigger spell "Trigger when Princess Eleanor of Urtind pricks her finger and dispel only if the princess is kissed by a prince of royal blood from the Dragon Isle" A detailed trigger message but one targetted at an individual so a targetting roll must be made if the conditions are met. Obviously the spinning wheel had best be enchanted if the spell is to remain intact before triggering for any length of time.

Examples A and D of the above examples show how important the role of the Court Mage is and he had better have Detect Magick. I hope that this has helped the discussion on the trigger spell and given people a few ideas.

Steve Turner

Humans are not inherently magical in nature so dont receive any modifier, whatever their aspect. Its just Well and Poor aspected humans have a greater aptitude for Magic.

Steve Turner

A mage could give a detailed trigger as you stated, but a targeting roll would be required. The cost of the formula based on a campfire is Prepare Combination 2FP) + Create Dragon Fire (11 FP) + Affix Dragon Fire (2 FP) + Intensify Fire (8 FP) + Trigger (5 FP) for a total of 28 FP. To cast this combination would cost a total of 28 FP and requires a Mage of ML 6+ as Dragon Fire is a MR 8 spell, the maximum MR a mage can learn is ML +2. Unless the Mage is a Fire Elemental Mage and can reduce the MR of Fire spells by 3, in which case a ML 3 Fire Elemental Mage can learn Dragon Fire.

If the Mage decides to create this combination spell as a unique spell he must first learn it, the MR of the spell is 21/3 round down (no costs for Prepare Combination and Trigger) which gives an MR of 7. The fatigue costs is 21/2 round up which is 11 FP. (Fire is the only element which automatically does damage if simply touched so no additional cost is required for the damage value.) The FP cost for the spell is paid as follows:

For the combination, the FP is paid after the completion of each element, so the cost can be spent over a period of time.

For the unique spell it is spent as soon as the spell is cast.

Steve Turner

With regard to fiery arrows I believe we decided that the Command element wasn't necessary for the spell giving a formula of Create Fire+ Detach Fire + Accelerate Fire which for Dragon fire gives costs of 9 + 2 +3 =14 which gives Base FP costs of 7 and an MR of 5. For Fiery Arrows we assumed that only the basic quantity (ie candle size) would be produced. The same formula can be used to create bigger arrows of course. Ralersins "Arrow of Magma" uses the same formula but uses Arrows of Dragon Fire the size of Beacons. This costs him 9 FP and is a MR 5 spell but costs 3 FP for each additional target. (each additional target costs a third of the base FP rounded down)

You also highlighted the fact that the MR for Dragon Fire and Salamander Fire are incorrect. Salamander Fire should be MR 6 and Dragon Fire MR 8.

Steve Turner