"A Song of Ice and Fire", veterans-only game, MA. In progress, midgame...

[Lingchih]

How does a level 3 S mage beat a natural 5 S mage in a magic duel? How? Well, so it goes. That was a humiliating battle at my cap Dimaz, mostly because of that one die roll.

[Corwin]

Originally Posted by Lingchih

How does a level 3 S mage beat a natural 5 S mage in a magic duel? How? Well, so it goes. That was a humiliating battle at my cap Dimaz, mostly because of that one die roll.

Actually it happens all the time. It takes +6 difference in levels of astral magic to guarantee 100% win in Magic dual. Losing with +2 diff is unlucky but not rare by any means. It's like losing in a RL game of dice while throwing a regular 6-sided dice and losing to your opponent with 2 or larger difference in has favor, like 1 vs 3+, or 2 vs 4+, et cetera. I am too lazy to calculate the exact probabilities, but in your case I would say you had approximately 1 out of 4 chance of losing that magic duel, and you have drawn an unlucky number.

Sorry about your bad luck Lingchih.