Author Topic: Duration Problem  (Read 1405 times)

Offline RP21

  • Lurker
  • Posts: 6
    • View Profile
Duration Problem
« on: August 22, 2011, 01:09:30 PM »
Hi guys, I've searched the whole book and found nothing about different types of durations on spells. I know a attack spell will have no duration, a shield spell has an exchange, and a maneuver spell (Entanglement) has a 1 scene duration. So how does one judge a spell may take a 1 scene spell in evocation?

Offline ARedthorn

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 278
    • View Profile
Re: Duration Problem
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2011, 02:14:57 PM »
Fragile aspects, by the RAW, have to be used right away and go away once used- though your GM may rule that sometimes, as appropriate, they'll last longer:

You perform a maneuver to <Blind> an enemy using your flashlight (single use compel tag), but then don't use it for whatever reason. There's no reason why 13 rounds later, he suddenly suffers as a delayed result of that. Use it or lose it.
You perform a maneuver during a downtime (at the beginning of a session where a month or more has passed between sessions), describing how you've been saving money up for an <Emergency Fund> (single use aspect tag for a later resources roll). There's no reason why this would vanish if you don't use it right away, so your GM (if he's nice) may allow it to stick around until it comes up... if however, it doesn't come up that session, it may go away next downtime (you ended up needing it when your car broke down last week).

The number of shifts a fragile maneuver costs is equal to the strength of the maneuver- this goes for both magic and mundane skill rolls.


Sticky aspects (can be used more than once- only the first use is a free tag, costs FP after that), can last longer, but again, only as long as appropriate, and generally never more than a scene.

The number of shifts a sticky maneuver costs is equal to the strength of the maneuver + the number of extra uses you want to have available. For your question- the reason the evocation spell lasted for a scene is because it's a sticky maneuver, and that's how long sticky maneuvers last.

If you're using evocation, that's the limit, I'd say. If you're using thaumaturgy, and you want to make the maneuver last longer, you can probably pay for extended duration, but it might be more appropriate (at least, for aggressive maneuvers, not self-maneuvers) to try to inflict a consequence of the appropriate type/duration.

Offline InFerrumVeritas

  • Conversationalist
  • **
  • Posts: 813
    • View Profile
Re: Duration Problem
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2011, 02:33:38 PM »
Hi guys, I've searched the whole book and found nothing about different types of durations on spells. I know a attack spell will have no duration, a shield spell has an exchange, and a maneuver spell (Entanglement) has a 1 scene duration. So how does one judge a spell may take a 1 scene spell in evocation?

The post above me covered a lot of good things, but here's our (my group's) perspective:

Attacks (whether evocation or not) are immediate.  They last only for the time it takes to do them. 

Blocks (again, magic or not) last an exchange (until it's your turn to go again) unless (with magic) you are able to pay for them to last longer (in the case of evocation, one extra shift for each exchange you'd like it to continue).

Maneuvers vary. 

If your maneuver has a 0 shift result (matches opponent's defending roll or difficulty set by GM), it's fragile (YS114).  Fragile aspects must be used immediately and may only be tagged (or invoked) once.  Once you do, they go away. 

If you beat the result (one shift or more of success), they're sticky.  They can last the whole scene and be tagged once, but invoked as many times as you have FP to spend.  An opponent may act to remove this aspect and must equal or beat the original result to do so.

Offline The Mighty Buzzard

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 1041
  • Unemployed in Greenland
    • View Profile
Re: Duration Problem
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2011, 03:58:04 PM »
If your maneuver has a 0 shift result (matches opponent's defending roll or difficulty set by GM), it's fragile (YS114).  Fragile aspects must be used immediately and may only be tagged (or invoked) once.  Once you do, they go away. 

If you beat the result (one shift or more of success), they're sticky.  They can last the whole scene and be tagged once, but invoked as many times as you have FP to spend.  An opponent may act to remove this aspect and must equal or beat the original result to do so.

That's how the RAW have it.

The number of shifts a sticky maneuver costs is equal to the strength of the maneuver + the number of extra uses you want to have available.

That would be a house rule.  Not a terribly odd or bad house rule, mind, just a house rule.
Violence is like duct tape.  If it doesn't solve the problem, you didn't use enough.

My web based NPC formatter, output suitable for copy/paste to boards and wiki, can be found here.

Offline Taran

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 9859
    • View Profile
    • Chip
Re: Duration Problem
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2011, 06:09:19 PM »
There are varying opinions on spell maneuvers.  This is one version of how long a maneuver lasts:

If the maneuver requires magic to sustain it - like a constant blinding magical light or eerie green smoke(maybe those are bad examples, but you get the idea), then you have to put extra shifts into the maneuver otherwise it goes away whether or not it was sticky to begin with.  If you want to spout a geyser of water all over a floor to create a "slippery when wet" aspect on the scene, then you don't have to put extra shifts because the water won't go away even after the spell runs out, so you use the sticky/fragile rules as normal.

Many People don't like this ruling because it makes some Maneuvers better than others.

EDIT:  putting the maneuver "Zero Gravity" on to a scene would require magic to sustain it.  That's probably a better example.  Light and green smoke could probably be justified as being "conjured" and therefore stick around after the magic dissipates.
« Last Edit: August 23, 2011, 01:17:09 AM by Taran »

Offline sinker

  • Posty McPostington
  • ***
  • Posts: 2115
    • View Profile
Re: Duration Problem
« Reply #5 on: August 23, 2011, 03:18:14 AM »
These guys have it mostly covered. Additionally though any spell that has a duration (I.E. lasts at least until your next action), can be extended by adding extra shifts on another action as per "Prolonging Spells" on YS259. So for example if you cast a block with no shifts for duration (so it lasts till your next action) one round, then on the next round you could essentially cast another spell (using mental stress and rolling to control it, etc) and add all of those shifts to the duration of the original block (each shift being an additional exchange).