what's the point of masterful castings?

[firebrand]

c 'damn' lammasu

You weave the threads of magic masterfully!
A lammasu growls at you and attacks!
Your damnation went awry!


why have masterful castings if the fukcing thing is going to fail? i have seen it on acids and a couple other spells as well but cannot remember them at the moment.

"abashed the devil stood and felt how awful goodness is" -- tbird -->the crow

[*juggleblood*]

silence and slow are like that

It does seem like a paradox here.
How can the casting be masterful if the victim made his saving throw and avoided the spell? If I missed the target entirely, it certainly wasn't very masterful.

In this case, it's because Lammasu's like to cast 'protection from evil' upon themselves. I'm guessing that this spell simply adds a bonus to their saving throw roll. Perhaps the answer is just to remove the masterful message in cases where the mob makes their save.

I know with some spells a masterful is an automatic succes. But on damn, silence, and slow does masterful give a penalty to the victims save? or does masterful casting just not apply to these spells?

"There is no try, only do." ---Yoda

[12345]

Some spells, such as protection from evil and mindbar give protection outside of saving throws. Protection spells, etc.

[Rynquald]

Personally, I don't see much reason you can't cast a particuarly strong spell and it still not be strong enough to land.

[*juggleblood*]

yeah Ryn I can see that as the case if the opponent has some kind of defensive magic up, but it seems like they should throw us a bone and make masterfuls automatically successful in cases where the mob has no defensive magic up or at least remove the stupid masterful message if the mob makes the saving throw.

Imagine you're at the shooting range and there's a guy behind occasionally calling out "NICE SHOT!" even though you are missing the target.

[Weasel]

[quote="juggleblood":1m1ewqfi]Imagine you're at the shooting range and there's a guy behind occasionally calling out "NICE SHOT!" even though you are missing the target.[/quote:1m1ewqfi]
Maybe it's sarcasm?
You weave the threads of magic masterfully! ..NOT!

[Ki]

I guess one could look at it this way. When you masterfully cast, might it be that you got the incantation perfect, use of any components to the spell properly brought together, and exceptional focus of your mental abilities. But alas, due to the opponents abilities and defensive spells -- still not enough.

Just my 2 cents.

[firebrand]

[quote="Ki":3bnhxm2v]I guess one could look at it this way. When you masterfully cast, might it be that you got the incantation perfect, use of any components to the spell properly brought together, and exceptional focus of your mental abilities. But alas, due to the opponents abilities and defensive spells -- still not enough. Just my 2 cents.[/quote:3bnhxm2v]

fukk a whole bunch of that shit. and since you talk like yer a d&d player, i am going to assume that you understand it when i say a masterful casting is supposed to be like rolling a 20 when casting. translation: a roll of 20 ALWAYS hits with possible beneficial side effect (acids get blinds) and also potential for max dmg.

"they're heeeeere" --carol ann --> poltergeist

[Avatar]

Eh, a roll of 20 isn't a critical hit anymore. It's only a chance for a critical. That's 3rd edition for you.

Oh, 2nd edition you mean? In second edition, there was no D20 to hit with a spell, no masterful casting, no critical hits. Even for a touch-based spell, when you rolled a critical hit, it didn't double the spell damage or effects.

[Leaf]

Chucky's a NERD ...

Person says: "So what level Dungeon Master are you?"
Chucky says: "Dungeon Masters don't have levels, dork!"

[Malison]

Even in 3rd edition, a 20 is an automatic hit in combat, it just doesn't guarantee the extra effect of critting...and it's not guaranteed success for other things like skills. And there's no D20 to it with most spells, only wussy touch-range or rays. Fireball still doesn't miss.

But aside from that, you're talking about mind-affecting spells, where there's no D20 on the caster's part at all, only for the target's save against at set DC based on the spell level. So the only way to apply this to the D&D system is by saying a masterful cast is NOT a roll of 20, but rather an increase in save DC by some amount. That leaves the opportunity for protective spells and high save bonuses to resist you, as has been said.

[*juggleblood*]

I agree with Malison on how it should work in theory. However I don't believe that is the case. I think that masterfuls have no affect whatsoever on the save for slow and silence. Correct me if I'm wrong.

[brady]

[img:3hv3b6hb]http://www.luminomagazine.com/2004.10/spotlight/nerds/images/poindexter/poindexter1.jpg[/img:3hv3b6hb]

[13]

we used to have to use regs (regeants) to cast spells on AC. Of course it was a PvP game and every time you rolled into to town to buy regs it was a fukkin buttpucker. Hipe fully you got the shit you needed before dude rolled in but half the time you didnt and had to fight with 5s while dude attacked you with 6s or 7s. Crazy I miss it so bad sloth doesnt hold a candle.

[*juggleblood*]

[img:1a7xpkak]http://blog.davisvillage.com/images/redneck.jpg[/img:1a7xpkak]