Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Discussion on playing Earthdawn. Experiences, stories, and questions related to being a player.
Post Reply
Lamoron
Posts:84
Joined:Fri Jan 04, 2019 10:22 am
Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Post by Lamoron » Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:30 am

The 5th Circle Nethermancer karma ability says: The adept may spend a Karma Point to increase the target’s penalty from
a spell he is casting by 2.


Now I'm looking at the Astral Strain knack from the Companion book, page 105. The Nethermancer makes a Spellcasting test against the target’s
Mystic Defense. If successful, the target suffers -2 Mystic Defense until the end of the next round.


I'm thinking I cannot use the ability with the knack, even though the knack is used when casting a spell using the Spellcasting talent, because Astral Strain is technically a talent and not a spell, but I've been wrong before in ED and it would certainly be nice if it worked?

Sharkforce
Posts:527
Joined:Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:39 am

Re: Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Post by Sharkforce » Fri Nov 01, 2019 8:54 am

i would say your guess that it won't work is correct. astral strain is not a spell, therefore you can't increase the penalty.

on the plus side, you do have other options for inflicting penalties to a target's mystic defense that you can then increase with that ability.

Lamoron
Posts:84
Joined:Fri Jan 04, 2019 10:22 am

Re: Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Post by Lamoron » Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:31 am

Oh sure, I just don't use them much, as the low circle attack/debuff spells are not that amazing IMO. We're a small group of three, with the other two being a Wizard and a Sword Dancer, so my debuffs only benefit one of them, severely limiting the usefulness.

I've bought Melee skill, and it's becoming a "thing" in my group that my strength 9 Nethermancer (just raised it to 10!) absolutely destroys everything in melee.

It came to be while fighting a lesser Horror, that I could not really hurt it with Spirit Dart, and finally grabbed my Dagger in desperation, and then open-ended dice saved us from a party wipe. I then learned to use a sword, and against the first actual horror we fought, I ended up pulling my sword as the last PC standing, and open-ended saved us from a TPK. Last night we fought a Gargoyle, and open-ended saved us from losing a party member, when I used Aspect of The Fog Ghost, and dealt 51 damage going aggressive and then open-ended.

So my Female Elf Nethermancer is now a wannabe Sword dancer, and when shit hits the fan she'll use Aspect of the Fog Ghost, go Aggressive, and absolutely annihilate our enemy though sheer buff stacking and luck.

Sharkforce
Posts:527
Joined:Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:39 am

Re: Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Post by Sharkforce » Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:42 am

spirit grip does damage and inflicts penalties to both physical and magic defense, which means everyone in your party can use it. no threads either. the usual disadvantage is that it's short range, but seeing as how you're in melee anyways...

Lamoron
Posts:84
Joined:Fri Jan 04, 2019 10:22 am

Re: Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Post by Lamoron » Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:13 am

Sharkforce wrote:
Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:42 am
spirit grip does damage and inflicts penalties to both physical and magic defense, which means everyone in your party can use it. no threads either. the usual disadvantage is that it's short range, but seeing as how you're in melee anyways...
It also does low damage and does not get damage bonus from success on hit, which is a terrible downside in my book.

Enhanced Matrix Spirit Grip (no buffs to attack/damage available)
- To hit; Step 13 + Karma
- Damage; Step 11
- Debuffs

Sword to Face (With buffs & Aggressive)
- To hit; Step 16-17
- Damage; Step 16-17 + bonus from hit

So the chance of hitting is roughly equal, but the damage from the sword is vastly superior. The debuffs on Spirit Grip are great, especially with my new Karma ability, but using my sword as well as spells (Fog Ghost hits Mystic Def/Arm) allows me to switch easily to the attack type an enemy is most vulnerable to.

So far my magic has killed nothing of importance, while my sword has taken the life of three Horrors and a Circle 11 Wizard (we were Circle 4).

Edit: Using my sword also frees up a Matrix, which is great.

JetBlackJoe
Posts:44
Joined:Tue Apr 09, 2019 7:01 pm

Re: Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Post by JetBlackJoe » Fri Nov 01, 2019 2:20 pm

Lamoron wrote:
Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:13 am
So far my magic has killed nothing of importance, while my sword has taken the life of three Horrors and a Circle 11 Wizard (we were Circle 4).
Kill-stealing is almost an Artisan Skill for you by now. Maybe if you spent some time debuffing, the rest of us could get a kill once in a while? 😉
"Mind over Body. Body over Mind."
- Verron Vittraxi, Wizard Extraordinaire

Sharkforce
Posts:527
Joined:Thu Feb 28, 2019 8:39 am

Re: Nethermancer Karma ability vs. Astral Strain Knack.

Post by Sharkforce » Sat Nov 02, 2019 2:21 am

Lamoron wrote:
Fri Nov 01, 2019 10:13 am
Sharkforce wrote:
Fri Nov 01, 2019 9:42 am
spirit grip does damage and inflicts penalties to both physical and magic defense, which means everyone in your party can use it. no threads either. the usual disadvantage is that it's short range, but seeing as how you're in melee anyways...
It also does low damage and does not get damage bonus from success on hit, which is a terrible downside in my book.

Enhanced Matrix Spirit Grip (no buffs to attack/damage available)
- To hit; Step 13 + Karma
- Damage; Step 11
- Debuffs

Sword to Face (With buffs & Aggressive)
- To hit; Step 16-17
- Damage; Step 16-17 + bonus from hit

So the chance of hitting is roughly equal, but the damage from the sword is vastly superior. The debuffs on Spirit Grip are great, especially with my new Karma ability, but using my sword as well as spells (Fog Ghost hits Mystic Def/Arm) allows me to switch easily to the attack type an enemy is most vulnerable to.

So far my magic has killed nothing of importance, while my sword has taken the life of three Horrors and a Circle 11 Wizard (we were Circle 4).

Edit: Using my sword also frees up a Matrix, which is great.
fair enough, at least, until you get access to willforce at circle 6, anyways... in that case, have you considered night's edge, which also offers a debuff? :)

Post Reply