The Wizard Hunter Power-Up (originally from Pyramid 3/61) has occupied a corner of my mind for a while now.
Specifically, will I allow it in Felltower, and if so, will I modify it at all?
Wizard Hunter allows two things I generally don't love in my gaming: a broad but not rigidly defined power, and effectively allowing for one-way immunity.
Not rigidly defined, in that it allows you to ignore magical defenses from spells. But does that include enchantments? It doesn't say either way. I'm 100% certain my players will argue that it does. Let's say I'm right, and it doesn't include enchantments. In that case Deflect and Fortify will provide full defenses. Bladeturning can turn the weapon. But not much else can. If I'm wrong, and enchantments are included, then are magically-enhanced defenses ignored? Do you bypass the plus to Dodge from Haste? Do you ignore the DR from an Invulnerability ointment? Who can tell?
One way immunity? How is an offense power a one-way immunity? It allows for, say, Missile Shield for PCs while allowing them to freely buy Wizard Hunter to ignore it on enemies. Give the Scout Wizard Hunter and all of his arrows ignore spell-based defenses. Now put Missile Shield on him. Only enemies with ranged attacks unaffected by Missile Shield (few) or who have Wizard Hunter (none) can fight back. Force Dome or Shield or Armor won't help, either.
For all that it does even with a rigid limit (spells only, and only defensive spells and not spells that buff defenses), it feels underpriced to me - I bet if I charged 30 points for it some people would still save up and get it. At 15 points, it's a bit of a no-brainer once you really give it a look. It's best for Scouts and good for everyone else.
So I'm undecided on allowing it at all, at the current cost. It might be a little too cheap and a little too whiz-bang for my style of game.
If you have experience with it in actual play, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Check out Pyramid #3/78: Unleash Your Soul, p. 7. Anti-Magic Weapon is based on Static. Static specifically works like a no-mana zone per GURPS Powers, p. 97, thus it would ignore enchantments as well since enchantments don't function in a no mana zone.
ReplyDeleteAs for its use in games I've used it in my DF campaign Aersalus - it makes a great means of dealing with enchanted weapons (as I've noted), but also some magical traps. The character that had it was a barbarian-holy warrior who was basically a witch-hunter from a northern zone. It was useful as could be.
I'll take a look at 3/78. I'm not sure a more powerful version is something I'm really looking for, though. My game has powerful characters but it's decidedly light on "super power" enhancements.
DeleteIt's not more powerful - it's just how it works in RAW.
DeleteI don't think Wizard Hunter is meant to ignore enchantments, so it would be more powerful.
DeleteWizard-Hunter is based on Blessed, Anti-Magic Weapon is based on Static, however its fluff is written the same as Wizard Hunter, I suspect it's meant to work the same way, it penetrates //spells//, not enchantments.
DeleteNote, Spellpiercer in DF 20 Slayers is the same Blessed write up as Wizard-Hunter and explicitly doesn't work on Blocking spells, being the last write up on it, I treat it as an evolution of Kromm's thoughts on the power in the article that he and Toad-Killer Dog wrote up five and half years before...
This is far, far, far better written up in DF 20 Slayers as Spellpiercer. It also cleanly calls out that Blocking Spells work fine against it.
ReplyDeleteNote, my above post doesn't address your second quibble, that it's too cheap. FOr that, make it 'Chi' based or some such, and charge 1 FP per turn it's used.
ReplyDeleteIt's still an awesome ability, but it'll be slightly less overkill on those spell-protected Naga troops the crew faces...
The real test for an unbalanced new feature is to consider who would take it. If the answer is everybody then it's clearly too good. In addition to the two reasons you give for not liking this for your game I have a third reason that for me is a bigger deal than the mechanical balance. That reason is powers like these are usually only mechanically described and don't have a logical justification in the game world. When something in a fantasy game allows something not possible in the real world it is usually attributed to magic. Maybe we don't know HOW the impossible thing happens because we don't have magic in the real world, but at least we know WHY (the power that is called magic which follows some internal rules of its own allows it). But most examples I've seen of a Wizard Hunter trait/class there is no justification at all except "you hate wizards so much you can ignore the laws of magic that they study hard for a lifetime to learn to use to protect themselves from everyone...but you." Fantasy games try to set rules for what magic can and can't do, but then these classes/traits come along and just throw it all out because it makes a cool super-power.
ReplyDeleteThis is a weird cascade.
ReplyDeleteIn GURPS DF bows are really good for scouts. Putting two arrows in the eyes of the baddies every second is very doable, and devastating.
This is mitigated is various ways, but the various spells that eff up arrow attacks are a big part of preventing scout dominance.
This makes any way to bypass those defensive spells especially valuable to scouts.
Right. In this case I'd use Spellpiecer from DF 20 Slayers and not allow it on Ranged Weapons. Those can already be Meteoric for pretty cheap (arrows, bolts, and bullets anyway) or are reusable (thrown).
DeleteGranted, this does call out for being part of a "powerset", like Holy, Chi, etc. I'm not a fan of the Knight just randomly picking up Mage Slayer abilities without deciding to invest in walking the Mage Slayer road...
I think that's part of it, right there - it doesn't feel like a random thing you pick up to enhance your combat abilities. It feels core to what you do, and it seems more like a variant Holy Warrior than something a Scout, Swashbuckler, Knight, or Barbarian just picks up 'cus they hate it when someone uses Shield or Missile Shield against them.
Delete