Shaman spells - talk me down off this ledge
Posted: Sun Apr 05, 2020 8:25 pm
Just curious, I haven't played with shaman buffs, but they look powerful. What is everyone's experience?
Example:
Mark the Wolf
Most parties it is pretty easy to consistently have two adjacent allies or two allies attacking the same target.
Single target if you have two allies (conditional) at 3rd circle it's probably +4/+4 and enables you 3 to harry.
So far that's fine.
5th Circle you probably have spellcasting 12.
Unlike other buffs, shaman buffs will always succeed against that TN 6, since shaman uniquely does not have to deal with spell defense.
So you roll a 12 vs the 7 weaving difficulty and get 1 extra thread. You spend a karma for one more thread.
Now it grants +4/+4 for each adjacent ally.
So it's a total of +8/+8. If you roll well +10/+10. Is that any issue in the game? Although it only lasts 5 rounds, but you want this spell to be short duration anyways to avoid having to deal with the drawback.
If you have a group with 4 people who can engage, that's +12/+12 or +15/+15. +6/+6 at lower levels?
And then the shaman spends 2 more karma and I think 2 more strain.
Grants +8/+8 to 3 people (a +24/+24) buff.
If there are 4 allies. 1 more strain, 1 more karma. Now it's +8/+8 x 4 and you impose double harried because you count as 8 people?
Granted that's a lot more expensive than pack tactics. For the same 2-turn action you're on average only going to grant +4/+4 to 3 people. Still better than any other two buff spells in the game (not counting that you're rolling against that 6 TN, for extra duration).
Pack tactics, 1 action, you probably roll an 11 (by 4th circle), so that's +2/+2 to everyone. Possibly +3/+3 if you roll well with karma.
If they're willing to wave a thread, it's a 2 turn cast, but adds +5/+5. Stack that above and you just more than doubled the entire party's melee ability at 5th circle?
I am often overly nervous, I have heard rolling step 30-40 at 5th circle is normal, I just may not be in the right mindset for 4th-5th circle Earthdawn?
Am I just overly worried? I know there's a downside if it breaks, but then again spells that are "broken when they work, terrible when they fail" are like having a one legged hacker who gets a +3 bonus to hacking in Shadowrun. Yes the 1 leg might suck when he has to run up some stairs, but when he doesn't or if the players find a work around . .
Just curious. Talk me down off this ledge.
Example:
Mark the Wolf
Most parties it is pretty easy to consistently have two adjacent allies or two allies attacking the same target.
Single target if you have two allies (conditional) at 3rd circle it's probably +4/+4 and enables you 3 to harry.
So far that's fine.
5th Circle you probably have spellcasting 12.
Unlike other buffs, shaman buffs will always succeed against that TN 6, since shaman uniquely does not have to deal with spell defense.
So you roll a 12 vs the 7 weaving difficulty and get 1 extra thread. You spend a karma for one more thread.
Now it grants +4/+4 for each adjacent ally.
So it's a total of +8/+8. If you roll well +10/+10. Is that any issue in the game? Although it only lasts 5 rounds, but you want this spell to be short duration anyways to avoid having to deal with the drawback.
If you have a group with 4 people who can engage, that's +12/+12 or +15/+15. +6/+6 at lower levels?
And then the shaman spends 2 more karma and I think 2 more strain.
Grants +8/+8 to 3 people (a +24/+24) buff.
If there are 4 allies. 1 more strain, 1 more karma. Now it's +8/+8 x 4 and you impose double harried because you count as 8 people?
Granted that's a lot more expensive than pack tactics. For the same 2-turn action you're on average only going to grant +4/+4 to 3 people. Still better than any other two buff spells in the game (not counting that you're rolling against that 6 TN, for extra duration).
Pack tactics, 1 action, you probably roll an 11 (by 4th circle), so that's +2/+2 to everyone. Possibly +3/+3 if you roll well with karma.
If they're willing to wave a thread, it's a 2 turn cast, but adds +5/+5. Stack that above and you just more than doubled the entire party's melee ability at 5th circle?
I am often overly nervous, I have heard rolling step 30-40 at 5th circle is normal, I just may not be in the right mindset for 4th-5th circle Earthdawn?
Am I just overly worried? I know there's a downside if it breaks, but then again spells that are "broken when they work, terrible when they fail" are like having a one legged hacker who gets a +3 bonus to hacking in Shadowrun. Yes the 1 leg might suck when he has to run up some stairs, but when he doesn't or if the players find a work around . .
Just curious. Talk me down off this ledge.