Astral Shield

[magnate]

Dammit, I came here to get away from threads about Oblivion!!

Anyway, I'm pretty rusty, and I never did know the answer to this: how does the MR roll vs. Astral Shield work? The description says the spell is more effective for more powerful astral mages - is it a simple -1 penalty to the roll for every astral level above 1? Or is it more complex / less intuitive than that?

I know there are threads on how MR works in general, but I've not seen one specific to this spell. Apols if this is a FAQ.

CC

[shovah]

maybe increased astral increasing how long the enemy is paralyzed?

[NTJedi]

shovah said:
maybe increased astral increasing how long the enemy is paralyzed?

From my experience that is correct

[Graeme Dice]

magnate said:
Anyway, I'm pretty rusty, and I never did know the answer to this: how does the MR roll vs. Astral Shield work? The description says the spell is more effective for more powerful astral mages - is it a simple -1 penalty to the roll for every astral level above 1? Or is it more complex / less intuitive than that?

-1 penalty for every two levels over the minimum, +1 bonus for every two levels of astral magic the victim has. All "MR negates" spells work this way.

[Vicious Love]

Hm. So, in all likelihood, Astral Shield is enhanced by Spell Foci, Rune Smashers, the Green Eye, and Rings of Wizardry/Sorcery, just like every other "standard MR roll" spell out there. Except Blood Vengeance, apparently.

[Cainehill]

I'm actually guessing not, simply because once cast, Astral Shield is semi-static : MR only seems to come into play when a spell / effect is cast, where AS is more of a constant effect. My guess is that it's more like, mmm, regen or fireshield : the spell effect goes by the level of magic in the path, and probably gets shafted when the caster shapeshifts or otherwise loses magic ability.

(Which, fwiw, seems bogus to me : If a dragon casts fire shield in human form, Fire Magic 9, the fire shield should be at that strength from when it was cast, not taper off when the caster changes shape and loses magic ability. Ditto Regen, etc. Oh - and if a Pythium mage casts Fire Shield at F7 from communicants, does _his_ FS go down in strength as communicants die?)

[Agrajag]

I don't know about that, I imagine the Fire Shield is actually being maintained through the battle by magical power from the casting mage, so its only as strong as the fire-magic-power the mage can supply it with.
I guess...

[OG_Gleep]

Hrm I didn't know AS/Fireshield scaled with magic paths. What is effected by increased magic power? Chance of catching fire, and/or damage?

And speaking of communicants...are there any spells that rely on base magic power? Someone said that Magic duel uses pre-buffed/booster for both sides. Is there any others?