Spell Slot Management under FeanMerc [Archive] - Wizards Community

Spell Slot Management under FeanMerc [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Luminryl
05-08-07, 09:17 AM Hey all.

For those familiar with the FeanMerc system, how does spell slot management work in it? The story I'm creating is all about the spells being cast, so I created the spells, and now have to create a caster capable of casting them. What ends up happening is a sequence of epic spells are cast, each spell contingent upon the previous spell completing (i.e., spell 1 gets cast, when 1 is done, 2 kicks in, when 2 is done, 3 kicks in and so on). What I'm trying to figure out is how many Improved Spell Capacity spell slots the caster will need. So question one is the following: Do spell slots used on a given day become available again the following day (assume an Arcanist) even if the effect of the spell is still ongoing at the time? (Lets say the spell cast lasts for 48 hours). That being said, question 2 is then the following: If spell#1 gets cast on Monday (which lasts for 48 hours and will therefore not be complete until Wednesday), and spell#2 gets cast on Monday as well (in a different spell slot obviously), and spell#2 is contingent upon spell#1 completing, when does the spell slot that was used by spell#1 become available again? Is it on Tuesday (one day later, as per question 1) or is it on Friday, since the FeanMerc system states that each contingent spell in use counts as a slot used. If that was the case, the slot for spell #1 would not be available again until any spell that was contingent upon spell#1 was actually complete which would not be until Friday. I think....:confused: ...maybe...

While I'm at it, a third question. How does one cast an epic spell under the FeanMerc system where the effect is delayed by a certain number of days? I see no mitigating factors that allow you to delay the spell from going off. You can change the casting time but seemingly not when the actual spell effect happens.

Any thoughts? Any help would be much appreciated. And as an aside question. Where has Dicefreaks moved to now that the current site is toast?

Thanks all.
Witch
05-08-07, 11:17 AM 1. I'm unclear what you mean by having a spell in effect for longer than a day. If the duration is longer than a day, this has no impact on your spell slot whatsoever - only contingent spells do. If the casting time is longer than a day, the slot is expended on the moment you finish casting (or are interrupted).
2. A contingent spell takes up a slot as long as it is contingent. (Also, I don't think it's a very good idea to make spells contingent on another completing - it eats just the same amount of slots as manually casting them, and it takes a higher DC.)

3. I personally use the contingent factor set to "within X minutes/hours/days" for applying a delay.

4. Dicefreaks is currently accessible, though not able to be posted on, due to site issues. Serge recently anticipated the site to be moved by the end of the month. Us non-moderators have no information as to that new site's current adress.
Luminryl
05-08-07, 11:48 AM Thanks Witch. To clarify, the situation I have is one in which I want 10 epic spells going off one after the other. According to what you're saying then, I'm going to be tying up the spell slots for all 10 spells for the entire period that it takes for all 10 spells to run their course (each spell lasts for 48 hours). That is not what I want. What I want is the following:

Time 0: Spell #1 starts.
Time 48 hrs: Spell #1 finishes. Spell #2 starts.
Time 96 hrs: Spell #2 finishes. Spell #3 starts.
....etc.

The way I see it, I figure the caster casts all 10 spells in sequence, each triggering off the one before it, and walks away. Otherwise, the caster has to be involved in the process, where he has to wait until time 48 hrs to cast and start spell #2, and then wait to time 96 hrs to cast spell #3...etc. I would like to him to have a hands-off approach where he can queue up the entire sequence and walk away and watch the consequences from afar. Other than making one huge spell with a retarded DC for the effects of all 10 spells put together, what other ways are there to do that? Unless spell #2 is contingent upon a 48 hour delay, spell#3 is contingent upon a 96 hour delay, and so on.

Oh and BTW, I apologise for not coming back for the duel we were going to be having months ago with ECL 50 characters. I never got that character finished and totally forgot about it. When I have a chance to finish her, I would still like to duel whatever beast you had in mind.
rob_douglas
05-10-07, 03:19 AM I think you have it right, despite how painful it is to have all those contingent spells going at once. You could put in a Delay factor, but I wouldn't make it mitigating. However, as it shows, Delays of a day or more essentially result in you being able to cast extra spells on the day you need them, which is not a good thing. Making big spells is an option - you don't need one for all 10, but could go with 5 for 2 spell effects each. That would be a little cheaper.

With a decent INT, you should be able to get +2 10th and 11th level spell slots (INT 40) so you would need 3 ISCs to get 3-10th, 3-11th, and 2-12th level slots - maybe you could do it with that.

ROB

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Luminryl 05-08-07, 09:17 AM	Hey all. For those familiar with the FeanMerc system, how does spell slot management work in it? The story I'm creating is all about the spells being cast, so I created the spells, and now have to create a caster capable of casting them. What ends up happening is a sequence of epic spells are cast, each spell contingent upon the previous spell completing (i.e., spell 1 gets cast, when 1 is done, 2 kicks in, when 2 is done, 3 kicks in and so on). What I'm trying to figure out is how many Improved Spell Capacity spell slots the caster will need. So question one is the following: Do spell slots used on a given day become available again the following day (assume an Arcanist) even if the effect of the spell is still ongoing at the time? (Lets say the spell cast lasts for 48 hours). That being said, question 2 is then the following: If spell#1 gets cast on Monday (which lasts for 48 hours and will therefore not be complete until Wednesday), and spell#2 gets cast on Monday as well (in a different spell slot obviously), and spell#2 is contingent upon spell#1 completing, when does the spell slot that was used by spell#1 become available again? Is it on Tuesday (one day later, as per question 1) or is it on Friday, since the FeanMerc system states that each contingent spell in use counts as a slot used. If that was the case, the slot for spell #1 would not be available again until any spell that was contingent upon spell#1 was actually complete which would not be until Friday. I think....:confused: ...maybe... While I'm at it, a third question. How does one cast an epic spell under the FeanMerc system where the effect is delayed by a certain number of days? I see no mitigating factors that allow you to delay the spell from going off. You can change the casting time but seemingly not when the actual spell effect happens. Any thoughts? Any help would be much appreciated. And as an aside question. Where has Dicefreaks moved to now that the current site is toast? Thanks all.
Witch 05-08-07, 11:17 AM	1. I'm unclear what you mean by having a spell in effect for longer than a day. If the duration is longer than a day, this has no impact on your spell slot whatsoever - only contingent spells do. If the casting time is longer than a day, the slot is expended on the moment you finish casting (or are interrupted). 2. A contingent spell takes up a slot as long as it is contingent. (Also, I don't think it's a very good idea to make spells contingent on another completing - it eats just the same amount of slots as manually casting them, and it takes a higher DC.) 3. I personally use the contingent factor set to "within X minutes/hours/days" for applying a delay. 4. Dicefreaks is currently accessible, though not able to be posted on, due to site issues. Serge recently anticipated the site to be moved by the end of the month. Us non-moderators have no information as to that new site's current adress.
Luminryl 05-08-07, 11:48 AM	Thanks Witch. To clarify, the situation I have is one in which I want 10 epic spells going off one after the other. According to what you're saying then, I'm going to be tying up the spell slots for all 10 spells for the entire period that it takes for all 10 spells to run their course (each spell lasts for 48 hours). That is not what I want. What I want is the following: Time 0: Spell #1 starts. Time 48 hrs: Spell #1 finishes. Spell #2 starts. Time 96 hrs: Spell #2 finishes. Spell #3 starts. ....etc. The way I see it, I figure the caster casts all 10 spells in sequence, each triggering off the one before it, and walks away. Otherwise, the caster has to be involved in the process, where he has to wait until time 48 hrs to cast and start spell #2, and then wait to time 96 hrs to cast spell #3...etc. I would like to him to have a hands-off approach where he can queue up the entire sequence and walk away and watch the consequences from afar. Other than making one huge spell with a retarded DC for the effects of all 10 spells put together, what other ways are there to do that? Unless spell #2 is contingent upon a 48 hour delay, spell#3 is contingent upon a 96 hour delay, and so on. Oh and BTW, I apologise for not coming back for the duel we were going to be having months ago with ECL 50 characters. I never got that character finished and totally forgot about it. When I have a chance to finish her, I would still like to duel whatever beast you had in mind.
rob_douglas 05-10-07, 03:19 AM	I think you have it right, despite how painful it is to have all those contingent spells going at once. You could put in a Delay factor, but I wouldn't make it mitigating. However, as it shows, Delays of a day or more essentially result in you being able to cast extra spells on the day you need them, which is not a good thing. Making big spells is an option - you don't need one for all 10, but could go with 5 for 2 spell effects each. That would be a little cheaper. With a decent INT, you should be able to get +2 10th and 11th level spell slots (INT 40) so you would need 3 ISCs to get 3-10th, 3-11th, and 2-12th level slots - maybe you could do it with that. ROB