Magic system info
Posted: Thu Jul 29, 2021 5:15 am
There is a consensus on this forum that wizards are generally bad. I've spoke with the folks over at the Rat catcher's guild at discord to clarify some things, since I haven't been able to wrap my head around the rules. There are some well-hidden points in the rulebook that may or may not change your view. I want to share this since I couldn't find this information gathered in one place.
[*]Spells can crit.
[*]Spells can be overcast. This makes the dart a powerful tool, even with its 0 dmg. Each 2 points of SL above the target CN of the spell lets you choose between: an additional different target, bigger AOE, extended duration, extended range. With 4 SL you are able to hit 3 targets with one Dart.
So the basic dart gives you: +1 advantage on an unopposed test, resets advantage of your enemies, and deals quite a lot of damage for the effort.
[*]Each spell which hits your opponent grants you 1 advantage. This means that AOE spells, such as Blast give 1 advantage even if it hits multiple opponents. This also applies to Dart which hits multiple opponents. Generally, only one advantage per spell.
[*]Dispelling grants the winner +1 advantage, the loser loses all advantage.
[*]Channeling is a skill which is useless in battle on its own. However, on page 132, in a box, it reads:
Tests: If the Talent is tied to one or more Tests your
character can make, the affected Tests are listed here.
Talents tied to a Test come with an extra rule: For each
time you have taken the Talent, you gain +1 SL on any
successful use of the Skill tied to the Talent.
This means that Aethyric Attunement, used with the Channeling skill, lets you ramp up success levels quickly. An average mage with +3 Initiative Bonus is able to buy AA three times. This means that a good roll on channeling will let you gain a lot of SL.
[*] Arcane spells belong to the respective school of magic. This means that each Lore of Magic has access to all Arcane spells, and they gain the trait of that Lore. IE, a metal mage casting Blast will not only ignore the metal armour of all targets, he will also deal bonus damage equal to the armored place the spell hit. A fire mage will set his targets Ablaze, and gain +10 to channelling and casting on targets with Ablaze. A Heavens mage will Arc a cast Bolt to different targets, etc.
I also recommend you the unofficial WFRP4E FAQ, it has input from the devs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HGK ... uxl1exk5mv
[*]Spells can crit.
[*]Spells can be overcast. This makes the dart a powerful tool, even with its 0 dmg. Each 2 points of SL above the target CN of the spell lets you choose between: an additional different target, bigger AOE, extended duration, extended range. With 4 SL you are able to hit 3 targets with one Dart.
So the basic dart gives you: +1 advantage on an unopposed test, resets advantage of your enemies, and deals quite a lot of damage for the effort.
[*]Each spell which hits your opponent grants you 1 advantage. This means that AOE spells, such as Blast give 1 advantage even if it hits multiple opponents. This also applies to Dart which hits multiple opponents. Generally, only one advantage per spell.
[*]Dispelling grants the winner +1 advantage, the loser loses all advantage.
[*]Channeling is a skill which is useless in battle on its own. However, on page 132, in a box, it reads:
Tests: If the Talent is tied to one or more Tests your
character can make, the affected Tests are listed here.
Talents tied to a Test come with an extra rule: For each
time you have taken the Talent, you gain +1 SL on any
successful use of the Skill tied to the Talent.
This means that Aethyric Attunement, used with the Channeling skill, lets you ramp up success levels quickly. An average mage with +3 Initiative Bonus is able to buy AA three times. This means that a good roll on channeling will let you gain a lot of SL.
[*] Arcane spells belong to the respective school of magic. This means that each Lore of Magic has access to all Arcane spells, and they gain the trait of that Lore. IE, a metal mage casting Blast will not only ignore the metal armour of all targets, he will also deal bonus damage equal to the armored place the spell hit. A fire mage will set his targets Ablaze, and gain +10 to channelling and casting on targets with Ablaze. A Heavens mage will Arc a cast Bolt to different targets, etc.
I also recommend you the unofficial WFRP4E FAQ, it has input from the devs: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1HGK ... uxl1exk5mv