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Quorlox
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CSI: Forbidden Lands

Tue 06 Aug 2024, 23:52

If somebody goes missing from a group with resources, e.g., the Rust Brothers, what are some typical investigative tools that could be used to see if the person is dead, runaway, etc.?

I'm looking for ideas that fit within the setting and mechanics.
 
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leaddolphin
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Wed 07 Aug 2024, 15:36

You've got Intuition, a rank 3 Awareness spell, which can give you a yes/no answer to e.g. "is person X dead", "has person X been abducted" etc.

Shapeshifting gives you a bunch of options, starting with Animal Speech at rank 1 which lets you ask random woodland critters "did you see someone come this way?" (although they might not have the same idea of time as we do, and probably can't tell different people apart for the same reason that you probably can't tell squirrels apart).
 
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Quorlox
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Wed 07 Aug 2024, 22:16

Intuition is a good idea if someone has it. Speaking to animals (or mountains) could be fun.
 
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Quorlox
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Thu 08 Aug 2024, 01:52

Are there any published limits on the spell Intuition?

At first glance, it seems like it could be used an unlimited number of times to answer pretty much anything.
 
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leaddolphin
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Fri 09 Aug 2024, 19:56

It's a third-level spell, so the limit is the amount of willpower you have, and the possibility of rolling a magic mishap. On top of that, the GM is allowed to provide a subjective or uninformative answer, e.g. if you've been spamming the spell and the answers to previous questions are clouding subsequent answers.
 
Ominovin
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Sat 10 Aug 2024, 05:17

It's a third-level spell, so the limit is the amount of willpower you have, and the possibility of rolling a magic mishap. On top of that, the GM is allowed to provide a subjective or uninformative answer, e.g. if you've been spamming the spell and the answers to previous questions are clouding subsequent answers.
INTUITION is one of those spells that doesn't actually scale with Spell Power, so you can routinely safe-cast it at no risk of mishap once you have it in your Grimoire.
 
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leaddolphin
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Sat 10 Aug 2024, 15:20

...you're right.

What is the point of having a spell which doesn't scale up by Power Level?
 
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Fenhorn
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Sat 10 Aug 2024, 15:59

...you're right.

What is the point of having a spell which doesn't scale up by Power Level?
I haven't played in a couple of years, but I do remember the debate back then. I am a little rusty regarding the rules of FbL, but perhaps to overcome anything magically hidden or the player himself could come up with ways to increase the effect of the spell, if the GM so allows. It is a wild magic system after all. When we played, then I allowed the player to come up with extra effects for increased power levels 'on the fly', if the where reasonable, I allowed them.
"Thanks for noticing' me." - Eeyore
 
Ominovin
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Sat 10 Aug 2024, 18:33

...you're right.

What is the point of having a spell which doesn't scale up by Power Level?
I went through the spells in the Player's Handbook a while back and here's a list of the spells I saw that didn't actually scale with Spell Power (without taking MAGIC SEAL or other warding into consideration, at least)
General
Bind Magic (General 3)

Druid
True Sight (Awareness 1)
True Path (Awareness 2)
Divination (Awareness 3)
Intuition (Awareness 3)
Serenity (Healing 3)
Hawk's Eye (Shapeshifting 1)

Sorcerer
Firewalker (Blood Magic 1)
Stir the Blood (Blood Magic 1)
Speak to the Dead (Death Magic 2)
Dust from the Deep (Stone Song 1)
Voice of the Mountain (Stone Song 1)
Stonesmith (Stone Song 2)
Mind Trick (Symbolism 2)

Note that this list doesn't include spells that technically do scale with Spell Power but only in a limited fashion (like OBSCURE MAGIC, which does scale but only against SENSE MAGIC which is only an issue when obscuring a spell with an actual duration).

Personally, I'm guessing they wanted to give casters some reasonably safe 'useful' options: The '1 in 216 chance of needing to roll a new character each time you do a 1 die casting roll' is a steep price to pay for using your profession's abilities (which you possibly paid 3x the normal experience cost for).
 
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Quorlox
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Re: CSI: Forbidden Lands

Sun 11 Aug 2024, 11:28

Bind Magic scales with the amount of Willpower spent with the highest level creating a reusable item.

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