Does sympathy prevent you from indirectly attacking another player character?

I was on the coastal cliffs/black sands area, fighting those high level krolvin warrior/rogue types with my warmage. Typically, I use e-wave to keep them down. So, I cast e-wave just as an empath and his group came in and cast sympathy. They fell over, I got hit with sympathy. No big deal, since all the krolvin were on the ground as well. We all got up, empath and party moved on, and I prepared to cast another e-wave since some of the Krolvin were also getting up.

I got the weird message "your sympathetic state prevents you from casting this spell, since you don't want to harm (insert empath's name here) again". I got this message DESPITE the fact that the empath and his group had moved on to another room! Apparently the game computer decided that since we were in the same area, there was always a chance that he might move back in and get hit again. What the heck? I can see a sympathy spell preventing an empath from being directly attacked, but should the effect really prevent me casting spells in a different room? Is this intended?

I would also like to point out that, being stuck with a prepped spell that she was unable to cast, (and taking about 30 seconds to take in the meaning of that message), she was promptly overwhelmed and killed by about 7 Krolvins.

Also, if you can't even cast non-lethal spells like e-wave while being under a sympathy spell, this would give empaths an advantage in CvC.

The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me

I understand you don't balance spells around CvC, but ... are you saying that it is intended that if an empath casts sympathy in a room I am in and then moves on, I can't cast aoe spells in that room (or area!) until either the spell wears off or either the emnpath or I move to another game area?

So if an empath hits the room I am in with sympathy, I am barred from using any AOE spells even vs just critters? That's ridiculous!

The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me

>>It's almost as ridiculous as when an elementalist hits you with Elemental Wave (410), which pins you to ground and prevents any action for up to 20 seconds.<<

Ha. Ha. It pleaseth the master to jest.

Seriously, I beg to differ. There are a number of AOE spells that can affect PCs who aren't joined to the caster, which can immobilize them and prevent movement/casting. Censure, e-wave, tremors, quake, judgement come to mind. And a number of AOE spells can even kill those who aren't joined to the caster. Major e-wave, open implosion etc. The big difference here is that these spells are all exerting these harmful effects through physical means. With that sympathy spell, I was still capable of moving and casting, I was just told that I didn't want to use e-wave again on just the off chance that the casting empath might possibly move back into the room and be inconvenienced!

Heck, if the empath and his party had remained in the room unjoined to me, that would still make sense, but ... they had moved on.


The bells of Hell
go ting-a-ling-a-ling
for you but not for me

>>I imagine the aspect of the spell that is being overlooked is that if you were hit by it, so were the Krolvin in the room with you. As such, they are considered part of the empaths party while they are under sympathy too, so therefore you can't cast it at them either. Now, the mechanics are just designed i'm sure to prevent attacks in general since it is easier, but from that perception it does seem to make the delay valid as long as anyone else in the room with you is under sympathy still.<<

I seriously doubt that the spell works this way. My empath uses sympathy a lot; it's a killer spell. It makes the critters like me, and want to kill their friends who are potentially hostile it does NOT make them part of my group. If it did, I wouldn't be able to hit them with AOE spells (spirit fire, e-wave amulets, metal wands, etc), but I can use these against them just fine. So, logically, that is not the explanation.

Mind you, logic often has nothing to do with the way GS works.


"Logic is a pretty flower that smells bad".

(xtra credit for identifying that quote)