Spell Desicate the supernatural

[Dead Horse]

mistakenly posted this originally in the rifts sub forum. re-posting here.

Can someone confirm or explain this spell to me?

My players are sayings a save or die spell, killing the supernatural creature in a matter of seconds if save is failed. If save is made it does an incredible amount of damage.

Are we reading the spell wrong?

[Nekira Sudacne]

Can someone confirm or explain this spell to me?

My players are sayings a save or die spell, killing the supernatural creature in a matter of seconds if save is failed. If save is made it does an incredible amount of damage.

Are we reading the spell wrong?

It is not an instant kill spell, but 3d6*10 MDC might kill lesser supernatural beings in one shot.

Your players are wrong, however. they are overinterpreting flavor text. it's like saying a fireball spell scorches flesh from bones. yes, it CAN do that...provided you do enough MDC with it. it might take many applications to get that effect.

Same with Dessicate the Supernatural. 3d6*10 MDC if they fail save, half if they pass a save. nasty, nasty stuff, but not an instant kill

[drewkitty ~..~]

This spell was just discussed a few months ago and NS is stating the outcome of the discussion.

Just remember poor writing quality is par for the course sometimes in the game books.

There are two spells I can think of off hand where the spell text and stats do not match the name of the spell. And another spell where the descriptive text of the spell matches the spell name and are mismatched with the spell stats. This third spell Refresh Air (F3G) is unusable/broken in it's "canon" incarnation, while the first two should just be renamed to Masslessness and Increase Mass (in MainBooks).

[Glistam]

Nekira's right.

[Dead Horse]

Thanks for the replys. That flavor text ambiguity happens in a lot of spells.
This particular one was really hard to argue against as the text says it kills the creature.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Thanks for the replys. That flavor text ambiguity happens in a lot of spells.
This particular one was really hard to argue against as the text says it kills the creature.

No prob. and yes, it can kill the creature, but it still has to do enough damage to do so.

[say652]

Can this spell be built into a Techno Wizard device??
Since megaheroes are supernatural creatures a handy weapon of SuperheroSlaying would give other pc's time to shine.

[drewkitty ~..~]

Can this spell be built into a Techno Wizard device??
Since megaheroes are supernatural creatures a handy weapon of SuperheroSlaying would give other pc's time to shine.

I do believe the phrasing to be "Considered a Supernatural Being". There is not "Is" word.
However, I might let them be effected by DSN because they are so powerful.

The only thing that would stand in the way is converting the damage to SD while also not nerfing the spell in the process.

[psam_rage]

Can this spell be built into a Techno Wizard device??
Since megaheroes are supernatural creatures a handy weapon of SuperheroSlaying would give other pc's time to shine.

Yeah but ONLY vs Megas...
Also thought it wont kill it does do NASTY things to vampires.

[say652]

Can this spell be built into a Techno Wizard device??
Since megaheroes are supernatural creatures a handy weapon of SuperheroSlaying would give other pc's time to shine.

I do believe the phrasing to be "Considered a Supernatural Being". There is not "Is" word.
However, I might let them be effected by DSN because they are so powerful.

The only thing that would stand in the way is converting the damage to SD while also not nerfing the spell in the process.

Hitpoints +Sdc= Mdc.
Full power is fine.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Can this spell be built into a Techno Wizard device??
Since megaheroes are supernatural creatures a handy weapon of SuperheroSlaying would give other pc's time to shine.

Yes, it can be.

[say652]

Even if rare like runeclass techno wizard items, the ability to hurt and possibly kill a supernatural creature that quickly should definitely be weaponized.

[Nekira Sudacne]

Even if rare like runeclass techno wizard items, the ability to hurt and possibly kill a supernatural creature that quickly should definitely be weaponized.

TW dosn't even have a runeclass for something this basic. A TW may make ANY spell into a device that simply casts that spell and does nothing else as a trivial concern, and the required gem is not rare or expensive. according to the rules, it would cost less than 7,000 to make a device that casts dessicate the supernatural at level 1 profiency. the gem is cheep and common and there's no need to make it high level when the damage is the same regardless of level.

[say652]

Wouldn't higher level add a penalty to the saving throw??
High pe gives a high save vs magic.

Cibola is said to have God hunting Teams.
What would it take to assassinate an Adult Dragon or Rival Supernatural Intelligence??

[Nekira Sudacne]

Wouldn't higher level add a penalty to the saving throw??
High pe gives a high save vs magic.

That's the one big weakness of TW. Techno-Wizards only get a bonus to save vs. spell strength at levels 4, 8, and 12. and since we know NPC's over level 8 are supposed to be uncommon and 12+ very rare, usually the best in their given region, and that higher level devices are much more expensive to build (A TW can make the device level no higher than his own, but can make them lower level than himself).

that's why the vast majority of TW devices seem to only run at about level 4-6. that's the average level of most TW's around, getting higher than that requires commissioning the head of a TW foundry instead of just something his employees crank out, which costs a lot more for his time. which means that such a device will generally be limited to a save of 12 or 13. I suppose one could split the difference, get level 4 for +1 spell strength and a bit of range without adding to cost too badly, but the truth is most big supernatural beings like dragons will save more often than not.

Fortunately, (3d6*10)/2 for 25 PPE is STILL some of the best damage to PPE cost ratio you can get. (Yes, I know the actual cost of spell is 50, TW items that only use a single spell tend to be cheeper than the actual spell, and if not, you can always add in more 700 credit fire opals to decrease the cost even more)