When casting spells such as Shrivelling, and you fail on your first attempt, can you try to cast it a second time during the same turn?

leoj said:

Nope. The spell is "cast and exhaust" regardless of the result. If you succeed in the spell check, then the spell will last until the end of the combat (or until you devote hands to it); in case you fail the spell check, you cannot recast it until it's refreshed (which happens during the upkeep phase of the following round). Notice that even if the check is failed, the required "hands" are still used for that round. Thus, if you're fighting a monster with shrivelling and fail to cast that spell, you have only one "free" hand (for a weapon or another spell) to fight the monster during the first round of the combat

Julia,

By the time-stamp on your response, you must have been typing it at the same time as typed his question.

Julia said:

I always hated this rule. Spells are already worse than magic weapons. Why do we need an extra rule to make them even lamer?

The Professor said:

I casted successfully arcane insight befor entering the forums, and had both hands free for writing the answer before the question was asked ::laughing::

avec said:

I agree. We've house ruled that for combat spells, you can keep rolling for a success, as long as you've got the sanity to pay.

avec said:

Also agreed here. I houserule that an unsuccessful casting doesn't FORCE you to keep using that hand. You already paid the sanity cost, why pay more? Like, I dunno, 3 stamina damage from not being able to beat the Gug because you couldn't use your shotgun and were forced to use your Derringer only...

yeah spells are most often times pretty worthless (at least in the games i have played)... very rarely does anyone cast them and i do think the rules should be tweaked to a extent to encourage use... actually i was teaching a few new people to play for the first time the other day and, like most people i've seen play, they get all excited when they draw a spell but then once they learn the rules they they chalk it up to "items that you will discard if you die or are forced to discard pile."

That's why I hardly ever shop at the Ye Olde Magick Shoppe (curse those archaic words). $5 for spells are just not worth it. In my games, Miriam Beecher's merchandise gather dust, while Oliver Thomas' struggles to restock his shelves or his stuff would be completely sold out.

heh its kinda funny how the magic shop closes last on the terror track when its supposed to gradually get harder...

Clearly this is more thematic than mechanic. The owner of the Magic Shop is more familiar with the coming threat than the owner of the Curiosity Shop. The owner of the General Store is just an average Joe and leaves at the first sign of trouble.

Tibs said:

that's a good way to look at it heh still once the terror level hits 6 buying stuff pretty much goes out the window in the games i've played

RocksLikeToast said:

For combat spells to be worth it you absolutely need a competent spellcaster. This can be the case because of inherent abilities (Daisy, Harvey (after succeeding at his personal story), Agnes, etc.) or because of allies, skills (e.g. reroll all ones or a guaranteed auto-success), or equipment (bonus to spellcasting checks, crystals). A Lore skill of 4 without any additional bonuses just doesn't cut it.

Having said that, shopping for spells is rarely worth it. Imho, it's generally better to shop for (spell) tomes in the Curiositie Shoppe. They're also often easily gained from encounters.

jhaelen said:

I'm with Jhaelen on this issue. Spells can be vital, and easen a lot the game, and utility (I mean, non-combat) spells, in particular, are awesome. I won many games because of the right spell casted at the proper time. And once (during League 2, IIRC) I had Marie killing the Dunwich Horror on the second round of the game thanks to spells. The main point, as Jhaelen said, is that not every character can be a good spell caster, while almost all characters are good with a Sword of Glory ::laughing::

Having said that, I do not go often spell-shopping, simply because it happens quite often to gather spells from tomes or during encounters. The only times I do it is when I play with Marie (she needs two spells to pass her PS) or "The great ritual" is in play

Yeah, totally. I'm not against spells like some people (Helloooooo Alchemical process!), but it's the combat spells that make me a sad panda. That's the only reason I make a slight tweaking of spell rules, and it also only applies to combat spells, anyway, so the powerful utility spells don't get more powerful :-D

In a game currently underway, Jenny Barnes has cast Lure Monster three times in the first five rounds, knocking-off a Ghoul, a Tcho Tcho, and a Gug (thanks to another encounter where she picked-up the Scales of Thoth +3 vs a specific dimension symbol). It's all about the right spell at the right time. By the way, there's one Dimensional Shambler roaming the streets at this time. Way to go, Jenny!

The Professor said:

An interesting combo..

Yeah, I have to agree that while spells might seem costly and not worth it at times, the reason is that they are highly situational. At the right place or the right time, they can really save your skin. I remember one game when I used Arcane Insight to avert a gate burst on an elder sign that would have happened on the same turn! It really saved the game for me. Combat spells still strike me as pretty useless though.

btw, Julia, I just read you 'Arcane Insight' comment Very nice!

The Professor said:

I'm glad you liked it :-)