Is magic a little unbalanced?

[witchking20k]

And I mean that in the under-powered sense.

Specifically when I look at the DR of spells like Conjure Dart Swarm and Mystic Arc - I believe both have a base DR of 4 which is equal to a club or hand axe. But, shouldn't the base version of these spells be more powerful? It is costing fatigue to cast and Conjure Dart Storm has a casting TN of 20. When I factor in the scaling TN to get a +1 base DMG it doesn't seem too appealing. Thoughts?

[Fidoric]

It is something I have never really tested. Hard to tell without that. Magic may have its drawbacks but you can strike at a distance with it and you don't need to wield a weapon either.

[Rasyr]

First off, don't forget that the previous attack spells were split in to

 

The first, the "arc" type spells, have TN 16 to make what amounts to a melee attack. For an increase of 2 tot he TN that becomes a bolt spells.

The sphere/ball spells all explode into a 5' radius of the point of attack (i.e. a 10' diameter sphere), so having a higher TN is appropriate since it can attack more than one foe at a time, at range.

And if you look at the casting options, +2 TN to take adjacent attack and make it 50' range. And under the sphere spells, we are talking another +2 TN to increase radius 5'.

so, thus CTN of 20 (4 points higher than the arc spell).

[witchking20k]

Yah, I was doing all that math last night. I can see the logic with the ball spells, and the "arc" is a great compromise to give a more accessible low-powered attack. The CTN of many other spells has dropped by a point or two as well, which is the other thing I was investigating.

I guess my concern is the base damage of 4. A Kobold, which seems to be positioned as the 100pt humanoid bad guy, has a an AR 8 (higher than the Goblin & Hobgoblin?) and a DT 21. Using Kadiris as an example caster: Kadiris casts Mystic arc and rolls 12+5+5=22 for a hit vs. DT21. The CTN is 16 so this yields 22-16= 6 scaled hits + 4 DR = 10 Hits - 8AR for 2 Hits. I guess this just seems low for result of the attack.

Is there a Talent that can be purchased to permanently increase the DR? That way you wouldn't have to scale to do more base damage.

[witchking20k]

Also, if you scale up a spell, does that not still adjust the CTN? So, in effect the scaled DMG would be calculated off of that CTN. Right?

TBH, I'm not trying to be critical! The reduced spell CTNs and spells themselves are excellent and look really fun to use. But there's just something about the way the math for the combat spells hangs together that's irking me for some reason....

[Fidoric]

The Mystic Gnome I posted yesterday has Mystic Arc as a spell. For CTN16 and one Ftg, it inflicts a base damage of 9. For Ctn 18, it can be a 50' bolt. Both options cost fatigue but can be cast as auto action.

I would say damages seem fair but it takes skill to benefit from scaling up the spells. After all when you upgrade a spell to cause more damage, what you are doing is decreasing the margin of success and consequently the scaled damage in exchange for greater base damage and maximum potential.

[witchking20k]

ahhh i forgot to add the stat in

[Rasyr]

ahhh i forgot to add the stat in

that helps too...

 

[witchking20k]

Any thoughts on the spell scaling observation?

[Rasyr]

Any thoughts on the spell scaling observation?

 

Had missed that observation at first. But in any case, that is one of the trade-oofs with having a flexible system like this.  Yo have to decide whether the increase base Damage may be better than what you might get from scaled damage.

I am also thinking that this can be emphasized a bit more by making those with susceptabilities take double the Base Damage delivered (rather than just double all damage).

(just realized that I am missing a "Double Base Damage" Fate/Boon item)

[witchking20k]

cool