Loose Ends OOC

Pointless, no. More difficult, yes.

The alternative is to get rid of Direct combat spells and double the base drain on mental manipulation spells. Direct combat spells are considered auto-hits and bypass armor... and mind control is pathetically easy. It's just... cheat-y.

Why not just double drain on all manipulation and direct combat spells?

Ehhhhh... I guess... It's still real cheater-y.

Yeah, but you think all magic is cheater-y.

Ok, extra cheater-y then... >_>

More cheater-y than binding half a dozen spirits? More cheater-y than pairing magic with a pain editor so you never have drain modifiers? More cheater-y than boosting your casting dice pool by the force of a bound spirit? Or sustaining a spell that gives you four IPs for less than a tenth the cost to get the same result with a mundane character? I could really go on. In fact, I think direct combat spells are among the least unfair things a mage can do, since its damage maxes out at double your magic rating (around 10-12), which is far far less than a mundane character (Narrow Long burst plus Narrow Short Burst from an LMG hits for 11P + 8P in one round base damage, and that's not including net hits. That's nearly twice the damage output of a mage. A minigun does 15P with a single full burst plus net hits.) Then you add things like different ammo types. Basically, while a direct combat spell has great damage consistency, it has pretty low damage potential.

Yeah, more cheater-y. You forget, direct combat spells are instant hit. There is no chance to dodge. And you don't get any armor to block their effects. All kinds of stuff can absorb those bullets, but you toss a manabolt at someone and suddenly all they have to guard against it is their willpower. That's a max of, what, five dice? Because how many characters have more than 5 willpower? Besides maybe dwarves, but even then it's rare.

That's not to say the rest of it isn't cheater-y, mind you.

Ah, but most mages will not be very good at dodging bullet fire. Unless they're built to do that, but then the astral threats will eat them alive. A mage, facing a full burst from a minigun, is probably going to be trying to dodge it with no more than ten dice, and that's on full defense. Without full defense, it'd be more like five dice. Against an attack roll that's probably in excess of 16 dice. Sure, he might have armor, but personal armor is not that effective when you're getting slammed by 20P damage with -4 AP. Some mages are less squishy, but it's usually at the expense of being not nearly so good against other mages. For instance, Kit would never survive a spell-slinging contest with another mage.

Sooo... Who has the case? Nobody actually mentioned picking it up, but I'll be nice and assume one of you grabbed it. I'm thinking Lin, most likely.

Anyway, we're back on track now! The time is 6:30 for everyone. No more time discrepancies.

YAY! ^_^

Yes, if nobody else grabbed it, Lin would have.

I'm gonna wait for Jon to post coming inside before I post again, since outpost is assuming that Jon comes in while he's speaking.

Also, for those wondering what Bruddah's talking about...

circumspect.
circumcision.

Yeah, I got that. My next post will involve Kit laughing his dreck off.

Let's see, what's going on in he- ....

...

If you want to see if your character has heard of Ellington and Wyatt, go ahead and roll any knowledge skill you think will be relevant. I'll set the threshold based on how well the knowledge skill encompasses the information.

If you don't have any appropriate knowledge skills, you can still default on Intuition.

Hey, Dura. Do I need a memory check to see if I can remember spotting any uniforms on the two I did see?

Nah, you don't need a memory check for that. The dwarf was wearing a gray long-sleeved button-up shirt and some navy blue slacks. Cane had on a gray-blue jumpsuit.

Assense the bottles: http://invisiblecastle.com/roller/view/2512347/
1 hit.

The vials show up as gray shadows, non-living. Kit cannot detect any traces of any auras attached to them.

So, where are you guys standing while discussing all this stuff? What do you have a view of?

My body is lying on the table, my manifested form is next to it. I was looking at the bottle, but now I'm talking to the others. The window and door are to my left. I'm looking at whoever is currently speaking.

Er, I meant, where is your rendezvous point? I've been trying to figure it out from the posts but all I can seem to find is that it's a block from the warehouse. So, um... I musta missed it.

What building are you guys in? Would it help if I drew up a quick map of the area surrounding the warehouse?

Oh, that. We're a block south of the warehouse, I believe, though looking back I suddenly realize I'm not too clear on that point either. I...guess we're in an old abandoned building? Or something?

Haha, okay. It's not important. Just wanted to be sure that I hadn't missed it.