Some Power Clarification

[rcoverdale]

I have a few questions about how powers work, especially at lower circles.

in this post, Clovis clarified a little about how maximum range and area of effect works:

http://www.esteren.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=768

My first question is in regards to this clarification here:

"Therefore, for example, a Demorthèn who summons Stone Arrow at the Third Circle can strike an enemy who is 70 yd away from him, by summoning the power 50 yd away and extending the area of effect of the power to its maximum range. However, he should be careful of what he does: if the Demorthèn's friends are in the middle of a close combat fight with the aforementioned enemy, they're in for nasty collateral damage!"

First, is the targets of a Stone Arrow (or similar power) the stones themselves or the enemy? And in the case of them being the stones, can both (or all) stones hit the same target?

My second question regarding this is, why are the Demorthen's friends at risk? Is the Demorthen rolling to activate the power, and the must roll to hit something? Or is the result of who gets hit random?

This brings me to my next topic.

Let us say I summon the same power at first circle. The range is touch. Do I need to touch the stone I am using the power on? What happens then? Do I have a Stone "Dagger" instead of a projectile? or does it still fly to its target?

If it does what does its range become?

As another example, let us say that I summon the Light sigil at circle one. If I touch a wall does the whole wall glow or just a spot on the wall? How bright is the light?

Just curious how some of these powers would work at lower levels.

[Dragoslav]

My comments in italics:

First, is the targets of a Stone Arrow (or similar power) the stones themselves or the enemy? And in the case of them being the stones, can both (or all) stones hit the same target?

The target of an attack power is the creature or creatures that you wish to hit.

My second question regarding this is, why are the Demorthen's friends at risk? Is the Demorthen rolling to activate the power, and the must roll to hit something? Or is the result of who gets hit random?

Not sure. I don't recall anything about firing into melee combat being risky.

Let us say I summon the same power at first circle. The range is touch. Do I need to touch the stone I am using the power on? What happens then? Do I have a Stone "Dagger" instead of a projectile? or does it still fly to its target?

If it does what does its range become?

As above, you'd need to touch the creature that you wish to harm.

As another example, let us say that I summon the Light sigil at circle one. If I touch a wall does the whole wall glow or just a spot on the wall? How bright is the light?

To answer this question, look at the Scale rating for the Circle you are using (in this case, the First Circle). The scale is "touch," so the light appears on the spot of the wall that you touch. For the brightness, look at p. 248, "Evaluating the intensity of a factor." At the First Circle, the light has the intensity of a candle's glow.

I hope that helps!

[Ovid]

My second question regarding this is, why are the Demorthen's friends at risk? Is the Demorthen rolling to activate the power, and the must roll to hit something? Or is the result of who gets hit random?

I wondered this as well. On the one hand, we have a maximum range for a target (e.g. 50yds). On the other, that maximum range is exceeded if it's an area attack (up to 75yds).

I'd resolve the contradiction by saying that an area attack is an area attack. If you want to affect an entire area (i.e. a circle with the centre 50yds away, but extending up to 75yds), then it affects everyone in the area. (Note that this may mean there are too many targets in the area for the appropriate Circle: in which case, I'd say you need a higher Circle.)

If you want to hit only certain targets, however, you can't use the area calculation to reach them: if they're not within 50yds, they're out of precision range.

Thus: Enemy A is 70 yds away and Enemy B is fighting Ally C 55 yds away in the same direction (so within the same 50-yd diameter area). I can either use a fourth-circle power with a range of 100 yds to target one of the Enemies, or a third-circle power to hit everyone in the area, including my Ally C. If another person, either friend or foe, enters the area, I would have to use a fourth-circle power anyway (because there are more than three targets), so I might as well just target one Enemy directly.

That's my take, anyway.

[Clovis]

I knew that you weren't done with questions on this subject! Well, let's get down to it:

is the targets of a Stone Arrow (or similar power) the stones themselves or the enemy?

Dragoslav answered this one: the targets are the enemies. The stones are just the means to attack your targets.

can both (or all) stones hit the same target?

It cannot: as mentioned in the book on p.247, in the "Scale" section, "Note that the same power cannot strike the same target several times just because it is of a high enough Circle to affect several targets."

My second question regarding this is, why are the Demorthen's friends at risk? Is the Demorthen rolling to activate the power, and the must roll to hit something? Or is the result of who gets hit random?

Ovid gave a very good explanation about this point: the powers a Demorthèn manifests are rather accurate (provided the Demorthèn has a clear idea of what he is doing, of course), but once they are unleashed, all sorts of side-effects can occur.

In the case of an area attack, the "Targets" Factor defines how many targets get hit, but is the situation is particularly messy or confusing, the results of the magical attack will not necessarily be those wished by the Demorthèn... the same way firing an arrow at someone fighting at close quarters with allies is generally a bad idea.

Of course, there are no precise rules for such situations, but every GL is welcome to make up some. In the case of a Demorthèn power presenting risks, I'd have every potential target make a Luck roll to see who gets hit.

Let us say I summon the same power at first circle. The range is touch. Do I need to touch the stone I am using the power on? What happens then? Do I have a Stone "Dagger" instead of a projectile? or does it still fly to its target?

If it does what does its range become?

As Dragoslav said, you have to touch the target. In the example of a Stone Arrow, nearby rocks will pellet the being the Demorthèn is touching, or maye the ground will become as sharp as daggers under his feet, to hurt him.

As another example, let us say that I summon the Light sigil at circle one. If I touch a wall does the whole wall glow or just a spot on the wall? How bright is the light?

Once more, Dragoslav gave a very good answer!