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Spells of Legend: Spells people have heard about in legends but not even mages have seen them used unless there is a dire need. Also mages hoard spells almost as badly as dragons hoard treasure. So even to let on that you know a SoL would put you at risk of being kidnaped and "persuaded" to teach the spell.

The amounts of PPE available from LL and LLN are listed in the individual main books in the magic section. (just before the spells listings)

Rifts earth's magic level is as high as you can go with out severe disruption in space/time of the planet. There are planets in the megaverse that have higher ambient PPE then RE. They tend to be raging LL storms, with vicious CoM and SN creatures.

Higher level spells are more common on rifts earth, just because there are more mages on RE.

Munchkin Slappin GM wrote:How often are Spells of Legand important in game context.

Should they be common or should they be nearly unheard of.

The thing about Rifts, more than any other game, is the shear power of magic. The planet is litterly stinking with it.

Its hard to gather the PPE in HU,PF,or Nightbane to cast spells with high PPE costs. In Rifts, it's easier to get that kind of juice.

So shouldn't big spells be more common in Rift's, than in other Palladium games.

Spells of Legend are just spell which were heared in legends and stories. Some times they will be whispered in awe or in horror. The cost of such a spell to cast is horrendous (hundered if not thousends of P.P.E.).

IMHO, these spell are unheard/rare everywhere in the Megaverse - they are spell of legends.

One of my characters got hold of the SoL "Sanctuary" - alone he is unable to cast the spell and he will not go around and tell verybody, that he has that knowledge. How he got hold of the spell is an epic story and was needed to save lots of beings.

I use spells of legend as plot devices and a method to set up a certain scene of gameplay. For example my Rifts group got caught in the middle of two mages who both cast Warrior Horde and waged war with their armies of magic constructs. The players ended up having to fight through both sides to get to the villain in question.

They also make good rewards and motivations for quests. I agree that a wizards thirst for spell knowledge can be an excellent driving force to...(fill-in-the-blank).

Most of the SoL's are really only good for a very narrow range of circumstances and most mages, in my mind, are going to be aware of things like PPE cost vs. the effected outcome of casting said spell.

There's limits written into the spells themselves so they require less policing than, say, CoA.

Honestly, I have never found CoA to be that game breaking.

Munchkin Slappin GM wrote: How often are Spells of Legand important in game context.

In my games .. rarely .. because of the amount of prep time needed to cast such a high lvl spell as well as the spell being nearly none exsistant for a caster to find .

Munchkin Slappin GM wrote:Should they be common or should they be nearly unheard of.

I've made them just that .. Spells of legend .. in my 30+ year's of real world gaming .. I've seen or allowed perhaps as many as 10 total to be found or learned or seen found or learned by PC's .

Munchkin Slappin GM wrote:The thing about Rifts, more than any other game, is the shear power of magic. The planet is litterly stinking with it.

This is one of the reasons I loved rifts from the get go .

Munchkin Slappin GM wrote:Its hard to gather the PPE in HU,PF,or Nightbane to cast spells with high PPE costs. In Rifts, it's easier to get that kind of juice.

This is the truth .. HU/PF and Nightbane are not as magic rich as Rifts Earth .. and so casting spells lvl 12+ are an incredible feat in an of themselves. Let alone doing something beyond that lvl.

Munchkin Slappin GM wrote:So shouldn't big spells be more common in Rift's, than in other Palladium games.

I'd guess they would be as well due to the powers that reside on rifts earth now as opposed to those that do in the other settings ..

Ziggurat the Eternal wrote:Honestly, I have never found CoA to be that game breaking.

Me either ..

Ziggurat the Eternal wrote:Honestly, I have never found CoA to be that game breaking.

Hence the point I was trying to illustrate.

casting a CoA and having it's stick patches in a checker board fashion, having it be shaped in a 2' wide line at an angle to the path of a group marching down a road/path, etc.. etc...

If you are creative it can be a real pain ing the postieior.

well yeah, most things can be like that, all it takes is someone creative enough to do it. But carpet of adhesion, no matter how sticky, just is not game breaking.

I have had people use it to pull off fantastic combos though.

When going up against magic weilding PC's ..

I usually use CoA against them with paralysis granades and or anti magic cloud ..

Then take out thier teamates and then deal with them .

Usually no problem lol

spells of legend don't have to be high level or costly in PPE. They are simply spells that are legendary. I could easily envision a low level low mana spell of legend.

On that note, they will rarely, if ever make it into my games. The biggest reason for me is I find it completely crazy for a mage to not sell it. a spell of legend could be very expensive and sold for a whole lot of money. It's akin to giving a mage an infinite bank roll.

If I was a mage who learned a SoL, I'd retire. forget adventuring and risking my life. I would sell the spell and retire.

Darkorinth wrote:As of RUE a Rifter can start with the spell of legend Leyline Resurrection at 1/2 cost.

Kinda makes you wonder why they call them "spells of legend" if a class can start with 1.

Because at the time it was a new spell. AMC used to be one in the 1st Ed of PFRGP, but ended up becoming a regular spell when the RMB first came out.

I've had three come up in all my years, two in one game, one in a game in which players where allowed to pick -any- O.C.C / R.C.C (one being a Lizard mage with an impressive spell list). Rain of Steel, Crimson Wall of Lictalon, and Blood and Thunder.

Darkorinth wrote:

The Beast wrote:

Darkorinth wrote:As of RUE a Rifter can start with the spell of legend Leyline Resurrection at 1/2 cost.

Kinda makes you wonder why they call them "spells of legend" if a class can start with 1.

Because at the time it was a new spell. AMC used to be one in the 1st Ed of PFRGP, but ended up becoming a regular spell when the RMB first came out.

Lyeline Resurrection is not a new spell in RUE. In fact there are no new spells in RUE. Even if it were new, that doesn't explain why if it is printed as a Spell of Legend which are rare, a class can take it at first level.

It is a little silly that you can get a Spell of Legend at first level, but it's more silly that the spell is even considered a Spell of Legend. It's always been part of the Ley Line spells and has been availible to LLW since they came out in the SoT1.

IMHO, a SoL should be no more rare or common than a rune weapon or a suit of Avenger P.A.

if your players never see, or get to use a Spell of Legend, then it ceases to become a legendary aspect in the game. Just another GM Plot Device (tm) that might as well never have been printed.

I agree with one of the above posters. They should be about as rare as Rune Weapons, and for Rifts, that means basically more common than technology.