Newbie ?? re: Spell Damage

[FarAway Pretender]

I'm wondering if somebody can help me understand (or point me to a reference work that explains) how different types of spell damage get calculated.

Star Fire is listed as doing "5+ armor negating" damage. Am I correct to assume this means actual damage to an opponent would be: (5+2open-ended d6) - (2d6 OE), with no bonus for Armor? I assume this is also the way Lightning Bolt, Orb Lighting, and Thunder Strike work, and haven't been able to find instances where it doesn't happen...

Fire Darts are listed as doing "10 AP" damage. Does this mean damage is:

(10 + 2d6 OE) - ((Protection/2)+ 2d6 OE); or
(10) - ((Protection/2) + 2d6 OE); or just
10 - (Protection/2)


Similarly, Astral Fires is listed as doing "10 AN" damage, if the victim fails an MR. I assume this is:

10 - 2d6 OE (Armor is negated)

After much experimenting, I often only do a couple points damage to targets with this spell, and I've never been able to confirm that I ever do more than 10, even against big targets like Jotun units?

Do I also do more damage with some (all?) spells if I'm higher level in that Magic? Does a Fireball cast by a Lvl 9 Fire spellcaster do any more damage than the same Fireball cast by a Lvl. 2 Fire spellcaster? If there is any bonus, does it apply to all damage-dealing spells, or only some?

Any guidance any body could offer would be much appreciated!

[Graeme Dice]

FarAway Pretender said:
I correct to assume this means actual damage to an opponent would be: (5+2open-ended d6) - (2d6 OE), with no bonus for Armor?

All damage rolls work in this manner, no matter what the source of the damage.

(10 + 2d6 OE) - ((Protection/2)+ 2d6 OE);

This is the correct one.

Do I also do more damage with some (all?) spells if I'm higher level in that Magic?

That depends on whether there is a + after the damage of the spell. Fire darts and falling fires do not do increased damage, fire ball does.

[Zooko]

Does "+" mean "add 2d6-OE and add bonusses for caster's level"? Or does it just mean "add bonusses for caster's level" and all damage even without the "+" gets the 2d6-OE?

[Graeme Dice]

Zooko said:
Does "+" mean "add 2d6-OE and add bonusses for caster's level"? Or does it just mean "add bonusses for caster's level" and all damage even without the "+" gets the 2d6-OE?

Every single damage roll in the game is handled as:
damage + 2d6oe - effective_protection - 2d6oe
There are no execptions to this rule. I have no idea what you are asking otherwise.

[Arralen]

Every spell damage gets +(2D6oe).

DAM 10+ means the spell does the listed damage (10 + 2D6oe) if the caster meets the requirements, and bonus damage for every additional level in the path that is listed first. How much, I'm not shure, though.

[Kristoffer O]

As Arralen says + means higher dmg with higher lvl. THe amount varies from spell to spell, but is about +1 for spells with dmg 1-10, +2 for spells with dmg 10-20. Some spells have higher bonuses, but that is rare (thunder strike IIRC and banefire). In the case of fatigue dmg it might be +5 / lvl (ghost grip).

[Zooko]

Thanks for the explanations!

[Zooko]

So, is it +3 for spells with dmg 20-30?

[FarAway Pretender]

Cool! Thank you so much for the clarification(s)!! Really does help me a lot, and also affects the spells I'll be casting going forward (with some of my spellcasters, at least!).

[Zooko]

Yeah, I just decided that my 9-Fire, 9-Astral Flaming Head Baphomet really ought to cast Power of the Spheres, Phoenix Power, Summon Fire Elemental, Luck, Holy Pyre.

Don't tell Argitoth.