Recently, one of my players took Phase and Phase Other for his PC.
I know these will be cast with the aim of removing grapples from a PC. Here is what I am thinking for a ruling at the moment. I expect this won't make my players happy, but it is rules-consistent.
Phase and Phase Other are, effectively, a successful Dodge. As such, if the spell is successfully cast the subject will avoid an incoming attack. This will not remove the effects of prior attacks, as the subject will be out of phase just long enough to avoid the incoming attack.
Because of this, both spells will avoid an attack that would inflict CP. However, neither will removing existing CP from another grapple on a target.
Here is my logic: it's a successful Dodge. A Dodge prevents a new attack from having an effect, but doesn't remove the ongoing effects of a previous attack. Allowing it to remove prior CP means it defends against a current attack and removes the effect of a prior attack.
I understand the weirdness of dropping out of phase but coming back to a grapple. But allowing it to do so means Phase and Phase Other can remove any existing grapple. That seems too powerful for what you're paying for. And it means it's effectively a way to avoid the effects of a myriad of other effects in a way that a blocking spell is not originally intended to do.
So that's the ruling I'm planning on going with. I'm open to argument but more rules-centric than effect-centric. "It's silly to 'go out of phase' but not have X or Y happen" is nice, but not necessarily convincing. "Here is why the rules aren't consistnet if you do X or Y" is likely to be more convincing.
I don’t really disagree with this. It’s a split second phase, right? For Phase, yeah, you need to succeed on the original grapple, but once you’re stuck, too bad.
ReplyDeleteFor Phase Other, I can see that it would be too powerful for a “get my buddy out of *any* grapple regardless of the CP amount. I mean, I can see this causing a foe to *potentially* lose *some* CP as they lose their grip a bit, but that’s about it. This would cause more rolls, but I can see something like giving the grappled person a chance to reduce CP with the grappler penalized on his “defense” roll for the grappled to break free/reduce CP.
Having said that, I guess it would only really work when the grappler tries to increase the grapple or do other things, since it’s a blocking spell. Otherwise to get a buddy out of a grapple I think you need Blink Other, with all of the attendant problems.
I could see a few ways here, and most of them equate to "this doesn't work or work as well vs grapples."
ReplyDelete1. It just don't work on grapples. It's for strikes and explosions.
2. It works on new grapples or grapples from separate attackers, but doesn't affect the existing grab
3. It phases both grappler and grapple target at the same time, returning them to the state they were in. So new grabs from separate or the existing attackers are dodged, but old ones remain.
Any of these make sense to me, which obviously includes the one Peter has decided on. Some spells are going to be situational.
The tricky thing, implied by your options, is that magic always creates some weirdness, edge cases, and anomalies. I figure the option I chose reduces the rules anomalies the most, although it does create some in-game-effect weirdness. Maybe the spell just phases enough of you to make the attack miss.
Delete#2 might reduce some weirdness where you can have a grapple on someone but can't improve it because their friend throws Phase Other . . . #2 would just say, no, it won't work, save your energy, and allow someone with a grip to firm it up without losing it or only being able to maintain it.
We'll burn those bridges when they come up play, I expect. I don't want to nerf the spell but I sure don't want crap like, "You attack our grappled buddy, I'll Phase Other him, and he's free!" or "Please attack me again, so I can escape your unescapable hold!" That's just meta and in-game issues rolled into a big ball of fun reduction!
Big Ball of Fun Reduction sounds like a solid magic item for a 4/1 post. Someone take notes!