the order for spellcasting and sacrificing...

Diabolists, Techno-Wizards & Psionicists, Oh my! All things that are Magics and Psionics in all Palladium Games.

Moderators: Immortals, Supreme Beings, Old Ones

User avatar
Axelmania
Knight
Posts: 5523
Joined: Sun Dec 27, 2015 1:13 pm

the order for spellcasting and sacrificing...

Unread post by Axelmania »

I used to think you could first kill an enemy, then harness their PPE, then use that doubled PPE to power a spell...

I noticed something interesting on page 178 of Rifts Dimensional Book 12: Dimensional Outbreak under Demon Magic though...
Demon Magic spells that require a blood sacrifice use up two melee attacks/actions, one to speak the invocation and one to make the kill (usually by slicing the throat).


This isn't worded as a generic rule... but what if all magic powered by blood sacrifice is intended to operate that way?

Basically requiring cast→kill rather than kill→cast?

That would definitely introduce some kind of limited time period for doing a spell: a 1-action window that exists immediately after casting time.

I expect rituals would be more flexible though, allowing killing to be done during the ritual (as part of it) rather than being a supplemental time period as with spells.

That kind of thing would impede weirdness like a wizard walking around going STAB>FIREBALL because the need to begin the casting first (and then just sort of delay its activation until the cost is paid by the sacrifice in the next action) would make it really difficult to kill resisting opponents, since they could just move away from you during the casting period unless they were tied up or unconscious.

I expect the "Heart of Magic" rules (something like 100xlevel PPE for 15 seconds temporary storage?) might be intended to manage that, with people just storing the doubled PPE as normal and then spending it like they would spend PPE absorbed from a ley line, rather than directly channeling it into a spell independent of personal storage?
Post Reply

Return to “Guild of Magic & Psionics”