Spirit Spell

[HumAnnoyd]

I am trying to come up with a new Rote Spell for my Warden character.  He is primarily associated with Spirit magic and has the Ghost Speaker power.  I was toying with him having a spell that would summon surrounding spirits and ghosts and made them visible and audible to his targets whom they would harrow and harrass hopefully scaring the crap out of them.  I pictured it as a Area Block that would be resisted by Discipline and affect Alertness.  What I am wondering is if it is successful and blocks a target's Alertness would they be able to function as usual?  For example would the target be able to use his Guns skill without a functioning Alertness?  How does that work?

•ANIMUS TEMPESTAS (Spirit Storm)
TYPE: Spirit evocation, Block
POWER:  5 (3 Effect +2 for Area)
CONTROL: Discipline 3 +1 for Ring and +1 for Spirit Control Specialization
DURATION: One exchange
OPPOSED BY: Discipline
EFFECT: Summons local spirits to scare and harass all targets in an area.  Block 3 of Alertness.

[UmbraLux]

Blocking Alertness might stop someone from seeing you if you're hiding or behind cover.  It won't stop them from pulling the trigger if they do spot you.  Or even if they simply decide to spray an area.

It's worth noting the entire block effect goes away once anyone beats it with an Alertness check.  You might prefer to redo as a pair of maneuvers or armor type of block.

[HumAnnoyd]

Once ANYONE beats it?  So if there was one person with a high Alertness the spell is completely innefectual?  The spell is resisted by Discipline so wouldn't they have to beat that instead to be able to use Alertness?

I do get that it wouldn't prevent a spray and pray action though.  How would I "redo it as a pair of manueuvers or an armor block"?  Are you saying it would just give my character an Armor of 1 against any attacks that hit?  Not sure it is worth it at that point since I already have a Shield Rote that is a lot more effective than that.

I am not really trying to prevent them from seeing me so much as scaring the hell out of them rendering them less effective and maybe even scaring them off. 

(click to show/hide)

I envision it as being somewhat like what Harry did in Bianca's lair with the ghosts of her victims.  Just not as a damaging attack.

[devonapple]

That sounds like a block against all actions except running away, resisted by Discipline or Presence.

[HumAnnoyd]

Can you declare a spell with that much of a far reaching effect?  I was thinking that originally would be what I was going for but I wondered if that was too far reaching.  That is why I thought the Alertness Block resisted by Discipline might be a way to model it.

[Howl]

You could make it as an block against all actions, or you could turn it into a maneuver placing the aspect "Harrassed by spirits" on the scene which you could tag or invoke for effect.

My necromancer character used two "spirit" spells in our last session. The first was against some crazy npc who thinks hes a warden( the real wardens dont know the guy) and who came at my character with a sword.... So I put up a block against attacks and moving to hold him while I retreated( sounds better than run away   ). It was a Superb(+5) block that lasted 1 additional exchange that he tried to resist but failed-so I got away safe( the block was a bunch of spirits that appeared and grabed the guy). And the other spell was a maneuver I used on a couple of black court vampires me and my group were fighting in the sewers; A 5-shift maneuver that placed the aspect "Distracted by spirits" on the vamps( a bunch of spirits appeared and started distracting the vamps by attacking them and moving around them)... an aspect that our Summer Knight tagget quite succesfully to take out the vamps

[devonapple]

I don't have the rules in front of me, but with an Evocation Block (or most mundane Blocks) you can generally stop one person from doing anything at all, or a lot of people from doing one thing. The rules are not precise about areas in between, however, such as blocking a few types of actions.

A Veil, of course, is a good example of an Evocation Block which keeps a lot of people from doing one thing (seeing/targeting you).
A Grapple, by counterexample, is a mundane Block which keeps one person from doing just about anything.

There may be some middle ground between the two, such as adding a Zone AoE to the Evocation Block, but it's hard to adjudicate. Common sense would indicate that summoning spirits to harangue everyone you designate as an Enemy requires a lot more finesse than summoning spirits to harangue everybody in a given Zone, but the commensurate cost in shifts would imply that you need to place that on each enemy individually.

One option would be to
1) cast an Evocation Maneuver to place a Sticky Scene Aspect "Spirits Gone Wild"
2) the next exchange, free-tag that to cast an Evocation Block to keep everyone in the Zone from "attacking."
3) if someone finds a way to get around your Block, use Fate Points to Invoke the Spirits Gone Wild Aspect and hope your GM allows you to Invoke-for-Effect/Compel that enemy to not act

[HumAnnoyd]

Hmm.  Cool.  Sounds like what I was thinking about exactly. I might have to try a single target spell like you did.  My character is haunted by the very powerful spirit of his father who was a warden but who is now in coma (long story).  I could summon him to grab a single target which could be cool.  So here is the revised spell:

•ANIMUS TEMPESTAS
TYPE: Spirit evocation, Block
POWER:  3 +2 for Area
CONTROL: Discipline 3 +1 for Ring and +1 for Spirit Control Specialization
DURATION: One exchange
OPPOSED BY: Discipline
EFFECT: Summons local spirits to scare and harass all targets in an area.  Block 3 on any action except running away.

[devonapple]

EFFECT: Summons local spirits to scare and harass all targets in an area.  Block 3 on any action except running away.

Yeah, I definitely want to find a way to balance these Block effects.

Also, your spell, as currently designed, has only a one-exchange duration (unless, of course, you Prolong it the next round as per the normal Prolonging rules).

[Howl]

•ANIMUS TEMPESTAS
TYPE: Spirit evocation, Block
POWER:  3 +2 for Area
CONTROL: Discipline 3 +1 for Ring and +1 for Spirit Control Specialization
DURATION: One exchange
OPPOSED BY: Discipline
EFFECT: Summons local spirits to scare and harass all targets in an area.  Block 3 on any action except running away.

This spell would work very well, and it is nicely balanced since the target can run away with no problem. And it lasts for only one-exchange. But still a very usefull spell

[HumAnnoyd]

Also, your spell, as currently designed, has only a one-exchange duration (unless, of course, you Prolong it the next round as per the normal Prolonging rules).

I figure one exchange would be good for now.  As you say I can continue it as necessary with some effort. 

[UmbraLux]

Once ANYONE beats it?  So if there was one person with a high Alertness the spell is completely innefectual? 

Yep, that's the way blocks work.  Armor lasts after being pierced but blocks don't.

The spell is resisted by Discipline so wouldn't they have to beat that instead to be able to use Alertness?

As a general rule of thumb, blocks are resisted by whatever they're blocking.  (Note:  This can make broad blocks easy to break, the blockee simply uses their best applicable skill.)  There is some amount of play (and player - GM negotiation) in that, but spells are built from effects to mechanics.  So a block against sight is generally resisted by one or more skills related to sight...details are mutable based on the exact description of the effect.

I do get that it wouldn't prevent a spray and pray action though.  How would I "redo it as a pair of manueuvers or an armor block"?  Are you saying it would just give my character an Armor of 1 against any attacks that hit?  Not sure it is worth it at that point since I already have a Shield Rote that is a lot more effective than that.

As a five shift maneuver, you could apply one aspect to a zone for one exchange or one aspect to an individual for three exchanges.  When tagged, you'll gain a +2 bonus.  Using a five shift block spell as 'armor' you'd have two points of armor for two exchanges, one point of armor for four exchanges, or potentially one point of armor (essentially a debuff) to everyone in a zone for two exchanges.

I am not really trying to prevent them from seeing me so much as scaring the hell out of them rendering them less effective and maybe even scaring them off. 

Sounds like this could be termed as applying a 'Quaking in Fear' aspect (maneuver), a fear based block against offensive action potentially resisted by any skill which helps deal with fear (Discipline is most likely but Lore could be used to realize the spirits are harmless, Conviction might be used to resist the fear and even Presence might be usable...depending on the situation and spell), or a fear and distraction based debuff (armor) against offensive actions.

Spells are negotiated between players though - different groups will have different standards. 

Can you declare a spell with that much of a far reaching effect?  I was thinking that originally would be what I was going for but I wondered if that was too far reaching.  That is why I thought the Alertness Block resisted by Discipline might be a way to model it.

You can, but note my rule of thumb on resisting it...the broader the block the more skills which can break it.

[devonapple]

You can, but note my rule of thumb on resisting it...the broader the block the more skills which can break it.

Is that the balancing mechanism, then, when building a more broad Block? That may be sufficient.

[UmbraLux]

Is that the balancing mechanism, then, when building a more broad Block? That may be sufficient.

It's my rule of thumb.    However it is backed up by the mechanics behind combat blocks, grapples, and wards in the text. 

You do still have the 'specific' vs general block guidelines for individual vs group blocks. 

[HumAnnoyd]

It's my rule of thumb.    However it is backed up by the mechanics behind combat blocks, grapples, and wards in the text. 

You do still have the 'specific' vs general block guidelines for individual vs group blocks. 

If I stipulate that the spell is resisted by Discipline wouldn't the targets have to defeat it with that or be forced to inaction (or to run away) for a round by the spell?