[PnP] Old Q&A and suggestions re spells etc.

[Alex Koponen]

Questions asked back in mid 1984 of Richard Snider by Alex Koponen.

Book 2 p. 12 Can mana be cast whilst astride a moving horse?
No answer.

Book 2 p.14  7.4)  I suggest that across the top of the table should 
read 'New Expertise Level' rather than just 'Expertise Level'.

Book 2 p.15  7.5) DURATION  Spell Descriptions
It would be easier to have written in the spell duration (EL+1 factor 
applies as a power) rather than having to remember to add 1 to EL. Also 
be sure to list whether phase, tactical turn, hour, etc.

Book 2 p.16  Does experience for innate powers have any effect on 
general (trained) MEL or vice versa?
Snider's answer: No.

Book 2 p.16-17 Can Wizards learn Sidh or Shamanic spells? Are Sidh and 
Shamanic magic considered Elder magic as far as cost to learn? What 
teaching would be necessary? Knowledge spells?
No answer.

Book 2 p.17  Does any Magic-User (Natural Magician, Wizard, Natural 
Shaman, etc.) have to use the spell 'Orient Self' and/or use a drum 
before casting any shamanic spell?
Snider's answer: Natural Magicians can cast Shamanistic spells without 
Orient Self.

Book 2 p.18  Can non-humans become Elder Wizards?  Or regular Wizards 
for that matter? Or Shamans?
    Do Elder Wizards pay 250(wizard) + 225(sidh magician) expertise for 
apprenticeship costs?  Or what?  Gets expertise from both 
apprenticeships?
    For Current Ability (8.1) use highest, lowest or average of I or Em?
    For Maximum EL which is used, I or EM? - Em for Sidh magics, I for 
Law, Balance and Chaos, and the higher of the two for Elder spells?
    Can Elder Wizards learn and acast Balance spells? If so - at what 
cost?
No answer.

Book 2 p.18  Do Wizards gain 2 protection spells (general skills #4 & 
$5) as part of their apprenticeship?
No answer.

Book 2 p.18-19  Is 'Permanent Magics' supposed to be Base Mana Cost 9 
for all except Shamans - and Base Mana Cost 8 only for Shamans?
    Also 'Time Powers' - Base Mana Cost 8 for Balance
                                     Base Mana Cost 9 for Law?
No answer.

Book 2 p.20  CHAOS POWERS   'Quarrels' written twice.

I like the spells. It would be nice to see more of them. Despite the 
mistakes this is still the best magic system I've seen and I've seen 
many.

Book 2 p.21 CREATION  How do you determine the MDV of Creations?
Snider's answer: Creation MDV equals MEL+EL as for Magic Items.

Book 2 p.23  THE DARK COMPANION  How do you determine DCV?
Snider's answer: DCV equals EL+2

Book 2 p.26  EARTH POWERS   Alignement should read Chaos ass only Chaos 
has Earth Powers listed.
Snider's answer: You are correct.

Book 2 p.27  FIREBALL   Example should read 'range of 14"'.
Snider's answer: You are correct.

Book 2 p.30 KNOWLEDGE  If the spell is cast at a lower EL than it is 
known at, will the frequency be that of the EL that it is cast at, or at 
the EL known? I presume that of the EL known.
Snider's answer: Yes. Knowledge frequency would be based on the EL 
known, gain is based on the EL cast.
    What skills will the spell teach? What are the criteria for 
deciding? One half of the Maximum Ability stats physical (S, St, D & A)?
Snider's answer: [Up to Ref. Primarily mental skills] It will not teach 
skills that require physical effort, in training, to learn. It will 
teach skills that are primarily mental or that require the student to 
learn a great deal of essential information in mastering the art. you 
should make an appraisal of which it does and does not apply for based 
on your impression of the skills.
    Does the expertise count as instructed knowledge when learning new 
spells by this method?
No answer to this part of the question.

Book 2 p.31 LUCK   Does thie spell exceed the possibilities presented by 
chance or is it limited to the chances present? Example: An archer with 
bow (WSB0) scores a normal hit and rolls 5 for damage. If the archer has 
a +2 Luck Charm does the 5 get modified to 6 (the normal limit) or to 7 
(5+2)?
I'd suggest that for play balance that it be limited to the chances 
present.
Snider's answer: [exceeds chance. does not apply to damage rolls]  Luck 
is better than chance ability. It does not apply for damage rolls. Sorry 
for the ambiguity.

Book 2 p.31  MUSIC  Alignment should read ;Varies' as both Law ans Sidh 
have it listed.

Book 2 p.32  OBLIVION   An Innate user of this spell using Energy Level 
rather than trained Casting Ability rolls Abysmal Failure - is the 
caster sent to Oblivion?  [No]
    Likewise use of Energy Level for the 'Knowledge' spell cast without 
purification - can failure ve Abysmal?  [No, no Abysmal failure when 
drawing from Energy level]
Snider's answer: Innate Magic-users, drawing from Energy Level, can not 
suffer ill effects from Abysmal Failure. Abysmal Failure is only 
applicable when the force used is extra-somatic.

Book 2 p.42  TELEPATHIC POWERS   Alignment should read  'Varies' as both 
Chaos and Elder have it listed.

Book 2 p.44 LEVITATE   Duration=(EL+1...   What!?!
Phases, turns, minutes, tactical turns, hours,...?
Snider's answer: LEVITATE should read TURNS for duration.

Book 2 p.46  WOUNDS   Duration - 4 turns (EL factor applies as a power) 
rather than Duration - 4 turns (EL factor applies)
Snider's answer: WOUNDS duration should read (EL+1) x 4 turns.

ALIGNMENTS  Are there 4 or 7 distinct alignments?
i.e. Do you need 1 spell (Protection vs. Elder) to protect you from: the 
Kotothis, The  Sidh, The Elder, The Shamanic Elder, or do you need 4 
different spells? This also applies to DISPELL/BANISH and to SUMMONING.
Snider's answer: There are four distinct alignments. Within the Elder 
alignment, there are four subdivisions. Dispell/banis Elder is good for 
any of the four groups.

Book 3  Give some general guidelines or rules concerning morale.
Snider's answer: Some rules for morale are included for animals in the 
general note at the end of their descriptions. In general, the more 
intellect a creature has, the greater its morale is likely to be. 
Obviously there are many exceptions, when dealing with exceptionally 
ferocious or hostile creatures, to this rule. As a general rule, keep in 
mind that unless a creature is incredibly stupid or driven for some 
reason, it will try to survive when it is in imminent danger of death or 
things are going bad for its group.

Book 3 p.38  ELVES  concerning the example with OCV 2 and DCV 5 the 
difference is 3. The difference of S & St bonuses and the D & A bonuses 
is 2.  Do Elves naturally have a higher DCV?  Or is it a mistake?  [DCV 
should be 4]
"Elves cannot be affected by Sidh Magic." [Should read Hostile Sidh 
Magic]
- Does this include beneficial magic (Healing, Luck, etc.)? Even if cast 
by the Elf upon himself? I'd presume not. Also does this include all the 
spells listed under Sidh Magic or only the ones exclusively listed under 
Sidh Magic? I presume all that are listed. [Any cast as Sidh magic not 
the same cast as chaos magic]
Snider's answer: Elf DCV should be 4. Their magic resistance should read 
Hostile Sidh Magic. It includes only Sidh Magic spells, i.e. those 
spells cast using Sidh Magic. The same spell cast using Chaos Magic, for 
example, could effect <sic> them.

In the future please publish stats for other races (Reptile Men, Ents, 
etc.).

An article on makeing character class members of other races might be 
appreciated.
Example: Character class Goblins HPV = 6 + 2d6   CEL use table - roll 
D100/2 +3 + HPV (RD)
HPV        CB    SB+StB     DB+AB
  8             -1         -1              +4      Magic User is -1 
AB, -1StB,
 9-10          0          0               +3     and -1 to any bonus 
(Ref's choice).
11-13        +1        +1             +2
14-15        +2        +2             +1
16-17        +3        +3              0       Magic-Using Goblins use 
Elder spells
   18          +4         +4             -1      normal and Chaos spells 
at double cost.

Book 3 p.50  SHADOW WARRIORS   What effect does the shape of a Shadow 
Warrior have upon it's abilities?  If winged can it fly?  [Yes]
The bigger it is the larger the HPV?  Etc.  [No]
Could you use cardboard cutouts to cast the shadows? Can a small shape 
cast a BIG shadow to get a BIG Shadow Warrior?
Can it's values be changed by changing the quantity  of mana used in 
it's creation (or Summoning)?
What effect would EL have for creating Shadow Warriors?
If you use someone's shadow to create one does he thereafter cast no 
shadow? Does it make any difference whose shadow you use?
How long do they last?
I presume that (having strength and all) they are physically tangible.
Snider's answer: With the basic rules, only the warriors described in 
Book One and Book Three exist. Their form can vary their abilities. 
Their HPV and other stats are not varied as things stand.

Book 4  Can normal human NPCs train their stats (S, St, D, etc.)? How do 
you determine Maximum Ability for normal and character class NPCs? May I 
suggest a way of determining Native and Maximum Abilities for normal 
NPCs?  Instead of 2D10 use 3D6 or 2D6+3 then modify according to race 
and sex. The multiplier for C & Ap is determined using the table (1.111) 
but with a roll of D6+1 instead of D10.  The multiplier for the other 
stats is rolled for each:  multiplier = 1 + (D4* x .5)

Book 4 p.4  1.241)   I suggest that chance - roll = chance of 2nd item, 
chance of 2nd item - 2nd roll = chance of 3rd item, etc.

Book 4 p.17  2.111) refers to 2.12.  Where is that? Is it a misprint?
Snider's answer: reference is to Area Specific  Treasure Table on page 
21. It should be to 2.112.

Book 4 p.36  WANDS  B)As for Staffs. The Casting cost increase is ONE 
mana point. The increase in the caster's EL equals the EL of the wand.
    Regarding the 3rd sentence: Increased EL including increased spell 
effect? [No] Or just EL of the wand subtracted from the success roll? 
[Yes] I presume the latter - ion which case the 3rd sentence should 
read: Subtract the EL of the wand from the success roll.
Snider's answer: Wand El applies as Staff MEL. It is only a subtractor 
on the success chance roll.

Book 4 p.41 COCKFEATHERS  B)   This is confusing as to whether burning 
them gives 5 mana for the spell or gives Mana Level +5.
Snider's answer: Cockfeather give 5 mana for casting the spell ONLY. If 
htey are not used immediately they are lost.

Book 5 p.10 KASHAN PAERMAN  EL2 not EL20 Executioner.

Other comments
Too many ambiguities! Clear them up. Soon.
A better index is needed (Squad Leader and Cross of Iron are good 
examples).
Put table or an index on the back of the books (like book 2) rather than 
leave them empty. {Or sample character, equipment and spell sheets}
Include in the game a playing board - A hex sheet that one could use 
'Dry Erase' or grease markers on. Also include a Referee's screen that 
has many of the useful tables on it. Possibly a seperate screen with 
reference tables concerning magic.
These comments, questions, and suggestion have varying degrees of 
importance. Feel free to assign your own opinion as to the importance of 
each.
                                        Alex Koponen

Responses from Richard Snider in a letter on Avalon Hill stationary 
dated 11/19/84.