This is one thing about old school games that has always stuck in my craw. Worse if your one spell is interrupted. Basically makes the dedicated spell-user a useless tagalong if not a liability at the early levels. My house rule is to roll 1d6 after casting any spell. If the result is higher than the spell level, you can cast it again. Done and done.

Last edited by Jimm.Iblis (2/18/2018 5:58 pm)

Interesting options: I've toyed with revisiting the old "roll 2d6 vs. target #" to cast method, having sorcerers roll a ST to recover, using ritual-casting (as implemented in Beyond the Wall: 1 hr/level to cast, roll to see if anything goes wrong during that time, though the ritual always works). So many variants, but I usually just settle for the RAW.

Chainsaw wrote:

Jimm.Iblis wrote:

This is one thing about old school games that has always stuck in my craw. Worse if your one spell is interrupted. Basically makes the dedicated spell-user a useless tagalong if not a liability at the early levels.

In AS&SH, bear in mind, a level one Magician with a familiar and a 13 intelligence can memorize three spells. Plus, low-level Magicians, in my humble opinion, ought to be using excess gold (they’re not buying expensive armor) to employ hirelings (such as spearmen) to create a buffer rank in melee (to minimize chance of spell disruption) and more broadly to help them survive to more powerful levels. It’s a very common strategy in my games at least, to the point of being standard operating procedure. /shrug

Yup.

mabon5127 wrote:

Iron Ranger wrote:

Chainsaw wrote:

In AS&SH, bear in mind, a level one Magician with a familiar and a 13 intelligence can memorize three spells. Plus, low-level Magicians, in my humble opinion, ought to be using excess gold (they’re not buying expensive armor) to employ hirelings (such as spearmen) to create a buffer rank in melee (to minimize chance of spell disruption) and more broadly to help them survive to more powerful levels. It’s a very common strategy in my games at least, to the point of being standard operating procedure. /shrug

Yup.

Agree.

I also agree, and magicians can additionally spend their extra gold on effective weapons like incendiary oil and holy water.

Anyway, someone needs to guard the treasure and hold a light source during combat.

Last edited by Blackadder23 (2/18/2018 9:22 pm)

Thrasaric wrote:

I am still curious as to the intention of the rules only once per day or if there is time can they sleep and restudy a second set of castings within a day.

Maybe Ghul can chime in himself as to what he intended, but beware, he often says that ambiguities are intentional and that referees should feel free to interpret as they see fit.

AS&SH, Vol. II, p. 137 wrote:

Once a spell is discharged, it is erased from the sorcerer’s memory and cannot be used until at least the next day (unless, of course, the spell is memorized twice).

I interpret the bold as referring to the traditional 24 hour period. I personally envision this limitation as reflecting magician’s mind being pushed to its physical and metaphysical max as he harnesses ancient, supernatural forces, such that he cannot repeat the whole process again (not just memorizing, but also casting) without spending time to let his mind recover (he’s not simply reloading a gun). He might go insane if he tried to bend the realities of time and space again so soon! To approach the challenge without being fully recovered invites disaster.

Thrasaric wrote:

My casters best get frugal with them spells!

Haha! Well, encourage them to employ men-at-arms too. Players of lower-level magicians in my campaigns have enjoyed placing their magicians safely away from the action and rolling attacks for their spearmen (or hurling flaming oil).

Thrasaric wrote:

I did a post in my FB group with that and some of the other tips from this thread. I think the men at arms thing gets forgotten a lot and that is a mistake. Hell they should hire porters, torch bearers, and spearmen too.

Yes, definitely! My campaign groups almost always have a several armed hirelings and a torchbearer and oftentimes a porter. Some players have a gaming background that leads them to believe hirelings are either unfair or simply not permitted, but it has been easy enough to correct in my experience. People typically find it very liberating! 

Thrasaric wrote:

This thread turned out very useful in a different way than originally intended and for the better 

Cool!

Jimm.Iblis wrote:

I guess I differ from a lot of my fellow grognards (term used with the utmost endearment) that I tend to skew toward maximizing player enjoyment. I do however, prefer to play by the rules, as loose as they are in this and like systems, because after 30 years it looks like Gygax, Arneson, Holmes et al. knew what they were doing. That said, I've found that permitting multiple castings of low-level spells doesn't break the game. Everyone has given me some food for thought though as to how to keep my own level 1 witch-man in under_score's game useful--time to use that 18 Charasma and get a pikeman! lol

Yup! It won't break anything. Make it your own!

I also encourage the creation of scrolls as soon as the magician starts to acquire gold -- they can be life-savers. 

Oh, and yes, this is not an aspect of the rules that I personally gloss over or ignore -- once per 24-hour period is a hard rule in my game, and it (ideally!) should foster tactical resource management. Survival to 5th level and beyond is often the goal of many a magician, and once you attain the glory of casting level three spells, everything begins to change. 

Life in the dungeon is tough.

Sometimes the fighter shoots his last magic arrow, misses, and it breaks against a wall. Sometimes a pack of ghouls is closing in, and the cleric blows his turning roll. Sometimes the thief fails to find that poisoned needle,  fails his saving throw, and dies. Sometimes the magician loses the initiative roll, gets hit, and loses his only spell.

That's life in the dungeon.