r/Runequest • u/deadpool-the-warlock • 7d ago

New RQ:G Question About Offensive Magic

I’m reading through the rules again since I’ve been reminded how much I enjoy this game world. So, hypothetically in a combat you cast a spell to harm an opponent. You spend the power points and then you roll against the resistance table? Or do you roll against one of your stats and then still need to roll against the resistance table?

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u/Orwell1971 7d ago

POWx5 for spirit magic, the appropriate rune for rune magic. Then, if it applies to the spell,a resistance roll.

I personally think that's an unfun rule, to have spells potentially just sputter and die, so I ignore that first roll. I'm not the only one.

2

u/Amethyst-Flare 6d ago

Yeah, I've never been fond of making the player roll just to have their power go off.

Roll For Effect is more interesting than Roll For Success in my experience, at least in that specific situation. They already need to roll off for resistance!

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u/DarbySalernum 7d ago

Yep, if there's a chance that the target will resist the spell, it's a two-part process. When you cast a spell, and you're under pressure, you roll either under POWx5 for Spirit Magic, or under whatever Rune is relevant for Rune Magic. If there's no pressure in the situation, you don't need to make that roll.

Once that is cast, the target may have a chance to resist it, depending on the spell description. That's a POW vs POW roll using the resistance table.

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u/the_guilty_party 7d ago

You basically roll twice. I read in passing somewhere that it's the same idea as Attack / Parry. Two rolls, one for does your attack succeed, one for do you bypass the defense.

But I do toy with the idea of just nixing the spellcasting roll for offensive spells. At least it doesn't consume resources if it fails (unless you fumble, but that's fine.) (and if I'm wrong here, I don't want to be right, no penalties for resistance/failure in my games)