... hasn't changed yet. But I thought I'd share this bit of old code which amuses me.

For Sorcery:
1 -- Nerve damage
2 -- Hands rupture, turn to ash
<5 -- Arms rupture, turn to ash
<9 -- Primary magic curse, harness drain
<17 -- Webbed
<33 -- Immobilized
<65 -- All items +cursed
<100 -- Obliterated

For Necromancy:
1 -- Hands withered
2 -- Arms withered
<5 -- Chest poisoned
<9 -- Acid sprayed in face
<17 -- Diseased
<33 -- Abdomen explodes
<65 -- Bones broken, unconscious
<100 -- Obliterated

These are just comments in the code about what was planned, there are no other details but some of the results make me laugh. The numbers are a scale from 1-100 of how badly you screwed up. Of course the actual code is an empty if/then structure and just goes straight to "Look Ma! No Arms!"

And, no, those aren't what we're actually going with though it should give you a general idea what sort of things to expect.

-Raesh

PS: Yes, I find it very funny that being webbed or immobilized is considered worse than blowing you arms off.

"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose

><65 -- All items +cursed

I hate you GMs and am glad I have a Cleric available.

Cursed items are so annoying to deal with.

><33 -- Abdomen explodes
><65 -- Bones broken, unconscious
><100 -- Obliterated

Isn't the first one kind of overriding the second one, and making the third redundant? Or is this supposed to be a percent roll for each level of bad?

Kaeta Airtag

"I have faith in the current crop of GMs to not screw people over"

>>Actually an opinion cannot be changed or corrected. Nice try back of line.-VERATHOR
>>But it can be wrong.-Starlear

Ahahahahhahaha.

I just wrote by far my favorite sorcery backlash result.

And the best part is I plan to do something very similar as a spell at some point. That one is going to be fun to write messaging for...

-Raesh

"Ever notice that B.A.'s flavor text swells in direct proportion to how much one of our characters is getting screwed?" - Brian Van Hoose

>>I just wrote by far my favorite sorcery backlash result.

Hope everyone likes more Hedgewizard traps.

---

Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

>Ahahahahhahaha.
>I just wrote by far my favorite sorcery backlash result.

I'm getting scared now.

Kaeta Airtag

"I have faith in the current crop of GMs to not screw people over"

>>Actually an opinion cannot be changed or corrected. Nice try back of line.-VERATHOR
>>But it can be wrong.-Starlear

>>So what sorts of skill ranges, roughly, are needed to avoid some of these nasty effects?

I don't know if you ever work past it (ie: more sorcery = less backlash), but there are a number of factors that determine your chances of backfiring:

1) Your magic type vs the magic type being cast (sometimes it's easier, sometimes it's harder)
2) The difficulty of the spell
3) Feats

---

Uzmam! The Chairman will NOT be pleased to know you're trying to build outside of approved zones. I'd hate for you to be charged the taxes needed to have this place re-zoned. Head for the manor if you're feeling creative.

> 2) The difficulty of the spell

>In the current system, spells have individually set modifiers to your backlash chance that have very little correlation with their difficulty.

Yep, it's not just the difficulty of the spell but the spell itself.

In the schema Raesh and I (mostly Raesh) are working on, it helps reduce severity too.

I like how it's shaping up, but it's probably going to need some solid Prime testing and adjustment to get it where we want it to be.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas

I'm a paladin that specializes in warding magic. I'm hoping there will be a point, even in the distant future, where I can cast (at a least min prep) Cage of Light without worrying too much about losing the fight right there on the spot. Hey, a gnome can dream.

Oh I figured it would always be there. I was hoping the % chance could be worked into the single digits with high skill ranks and I'm -really- hoping that there will eventually be armor sigils that absorb backlash energies to reduce damage. If its always going to be exceedingly dangerous, why have the system at all? (that's not rhetorical) I'm particularly interested because I like to RP a character that delves into magical theory and how Elanthia, as a planet, works.

That is an answer I can easily and heartily accept. Thanks! :)