Zone wide evocation attacks to strong?

[Belial666]

As a GM, you might require that the spell's control is always 1 or more points higher than the spell's power. Beating the control check like that means you control the energy especially well, justifying the fine-tuning of the results. (that's actually in the rules; exceptional success means better results). If the control check barely matches the power, you might tell your players that there is a danger a nonlethal spell kills the target. And if the control is lower and they take backlash or fallout? Sorry, you can barely cast the spell without killing yourself; there's no way you can guarantee other people don't die.


Examples of controlled power:

My outsider scion character has a spirit attack that leeches life energy. It doesn't do physical damage in the way of wounds but it does do cellular damage like weeks of fatigue and starvation. It might leave a character taken out with fatigued (mild), starving (moderate), emaciated (severe), skeletal (extreme) and throw them into a comma but it isn't going to kill them outright. It is weapon 8 power-wise; consider how much energy a month's worth of food equals to. It's 15 kilos of fat, protein and sugars. If that much energy was violently released, it would blast apart a small house. The spell just drains a similar amount of energy magically from the target.

Similarly, a weapon 6 area heat attack would heat up an entire area by several degrees (or cool it down by several degrees), including any people inside it. The bodies would collapse from heatstroke without burns. Heating up the entire body by 5 degrees is equal to heating the skin and outer fat layer by 500 degrees energy-wise. That's how you turn a lethal burn into an instantaneous nonlethal take-out; spreading the energy.

[ahunting]

There are easier Alternatives, I do think it is probably possible to do some kind on Non-lethal magical attack. Using water to lower blood pressure, (Could be lethal, but would generate the desired effect), Taser folks with lightning might work but again as with real taser they might have a weak heart or something. I would suggest another mechanic. Block is really the method I'd go with for non-lethal magical attacks. Blind them, wrap them in force chains or a force bubbles, alter their co-efficient of friction, so they slip all over the place, lift them three feet of the ground so they can't move try, turning their sweat into a paralytic.
Blocks vs all action or some actions are every bit as good at making your enemy not do anything as just straight taking them out. You can also target something where its weak if your smart about it.

[Viatos]

I think the rules support stuns and nonlethal actions without any need for a houserule. A block stops an opponent from taking action, and you can for example use a version of Orbius to "grapple" a target and describe it as a magical stun they need to overcome. Since stress isn't damage, you choose whether a Severe consequence from an attack is "Barely Conscious" or "Internal Hemorrhaging". You can use maneuvers to hit an opponent with stuff like "Immobilized" (Entanglement) already, but a complete stun should probably remain the province of block actions.

Mindlocks and mentally-based stuns should probably remain outside the hands of players for no other reason then mental stress is essential to spellcasting, and being able to deal it out WITH spellcasting is a little strong. If they really want to hit opponents with mental effects in combat, they should take Incite Emotion (can be used as a block, maneuver, and as a high-stress Social attack) or Addictive Saliva (can apply mental stress).