Can the Channling action cause Miscast?

If a spell has 2 Choas Star effects, it needs 3 (or more) Chaos Stars to generate a Miscast? If so, the Miscast generated is "worth" 1 Chaos Star or 3 (or more) Chaos Stars?

If a spell has no Chaos Star effects, it needs only 1 (or more) Chaos Stars to generate a Miscast?

Yes, both channeling winds of magic, and using winds of magic can cause miscasts, makes sense as both regards handling of the winds.

Spivo said:

And any ideas for my second (and third) questions?

Miscasts hapens with 1 Chaos Star or more, and these are not "used" up by Chaos Star effects on the action card.

So 2 Chaos Stars results in 2 Chaos Star miscast effects, even though the spell also has Chaos Star effects.

Spivo said:

This is wrong. The Chaos Stars rolled on casting are used up by miscast effects.

Here is how it resolves (pg 35 of Tome of Mysteries )

1. resolve any Chaos Stars (CS) on the spell

2. if there are still unused CS left, then draw and resolve a miscast card

(most miscast cards can handle up to 2 CS, and some more)

3. repeat step 2 until they are all used up

So, for example, you cast a spell action (that has a CS effect on the card) and somehow score 4 CS's on the roll.

1. You resolve the CS result on the action card (3 left)

2. You draw a miscast. It has results for 1 and 2 CS. You use the 2 CS result (1 left)

3. You draw a second miscast and resolve the 1 CS result

If at step 2 he'd first drawn a miscast that handles any number of CS (such as "take a wound for every CS rolled") then all three CS could have been used up right then, and no second card would be drawn.

Personally, when I GM, I decide whether to "spend" the CS effect on the spell or draw a miscast rather than making it automatic, as the book suggests. That's me, though.

I'm also trying to find where it says that Channeling can cause miscasts. That same section in ToM says that Spellcraft checks cause it, so I'm tempted to say that Channeling doesn't.

EDIT: Ah, there is pg 36 which states that Spell Actions can trigger miscasts. This gets into the whole "Is Channel a Spell Action" argument.

Doc, the Weasel said:

Spell actions is defined by the fire ball symbol in the top left corner, so I'd say that channel power is a spell action as what category an action falls into is defined by that symbol. So for me there's no argument at all there, the info can be found on page 49 in the core rulebook.

Oh, and both the casting of actual spells and the channeling of power require the wizard to manipulate of the winds of magic, so why shouldn't miscasts on channeling be possible?

As I said, in my oppinion there should be no argument, because I know the truth! Hehe...

k7e9 said:

A much more thorough discussion can be found here . Personally, I'm not counting it as a Spell Action , but that's just me. I'm sure LukeZZ can read up and make that call for himself.

Doc, the Weasel said:

True true, I guess it can go both ways depending on how the GM whises to interpret the text. Still, you need 2 chaos stars on the channeling action to get a miscast, and that's not very likely as you generally only roll one challenge die on the check.

Me "knowing" the truth was (mostly) a joke.

Doc, the Weasel said:

You are channeling the wind of magic through you to power a spell, so logically something can go wrong there as well. I don't think it's just in casting spells that magic can go chaotic on you. As soon as you start drawing power from the wind a window of chaos opens that may mess with you.

The channelig card is a spell action card, so according to the rules miscast applied to that as well. It's a matter of taste I think, because while the rules are fairly clear, the fluff can be interpreted as you like

On Channel, I agree you can go either way by taste.

Since the Channel action has a miscast card on it and one chaos star effect to trigger, there will only be an unassigned chaos star if there were modifiers adding additional challenge dice to the Channel attempt.

Now I admit, my own view is that the most specific reference is the one that says "spellcraft checks to cast spells" result in chaos stars that cause miscasts and that this is the only way they come. Much as I love "piling on the misery" (can't wait to see what new bad thing the 4th Ruinous Power box will bring), I think that's likely enough miscasting for my taste.