Fey and sorcerous aging

[Bob Richter]

So the greatest natural sorcerors in the world never achieve the dominance of magic that a D&D wizard does, for example.

Dominance OF magic...right.

Dominance WITH magic is, of course, another matter entirely.

A Sorcerer who's willing to risk shaving a year off his life, can do far more in TROS than any Level 9 D&D spell.

A Sorcerer who is willing to kill himself can destroy the universe in the process. That aside, there's actually very little TROS Sorcery can do that being a Landed Noble can't. :)

[Valamir]

A Sorcerer who is willing to kill himself can destroy the universe in the process

Which is actually my biggest problem with the Sorcery rules to tell the truth.  Given that today we have suicide bombers willing to kill themselves to take out a handful of their hated enemy, how unwilling would a devoted sorcerer be to prematurely age a year or two to wipe out an entire city worth of enemies.

I mean if Osama Bin Laden was a sorcerer, don't you think he'd cheerfully give up a decade of his life to turn the city of New York into a crater rather than just knock down a couple buildings?

Yet, the impact of sorcerer feuds and vendettas on Wyerth history seems pretty inconsequential...

[Brian Leybourne]

A Sorcerer who is willing to kill himself can destroy the universe in the process. That aside, there's actually very little TROS Sorcery can do that being a Landed Noble can't. :)

Bob's back.

I still maintain, there's nothing you can come up with that we can't do with a spell. From destroying the universe to shining your shoes.

Does that make TROS magic too powerful? Only if you want it to. In my games, certainly not. Firstly, because why would my players want to destroy the world? Secondly, if they tried it they would find that there are other, more powerful sorcerers in the world.

Brian.

[Bob Richter]

A Sorcerer who is willing to kill himself can destroy the universe in the process. That aside, there's actually very little TROS Sorcery can do that being a Landed Noble can't. :)

Bob's back.

I still maintain, there's nothing you can come up with that we can't do with a spell. From destroying the universe to shining your shoes.

Does that make TROS magic too powerful? Only if you want it to. In my games, certainly not. Firstly, because why would my players want to destroy the world? Secondly, if they tried it they would find that there are other, more powerful sorcerers in the world.

Brian.

You maintain in error. There are fimly established things TROS Sorcery CANNOT do. Bring the dead back to life, make someone younger, etc.

TROS Sorcery too powerful? It's WEAK. It's painfully difficult to do anything useful with it. Destroying the universe is easy, but I'm pretty sure that was an accident.

[Stephen]

A Sorcerer who is willing to kill himself can destroy the universe in the process

Which is actually my biggest problem with the Sorcery rules to tell the truth.  Given that today we have suicide bombers willing to kill themselves to take out a handful of their hated enemy, how unwilling would a devoted sorcerer be to prematurely age a year or two to wipe out an entire city worth of enemies.

I mean if Osama Bin Laden was a sorcerer, don't you think he'd cheerfully give up a decade of his life to turn the city of New York into a crater rather than just knock down a couple buildings?

Yet, the impact of sorcerer feuds and vendettas on Wyerth history seems pretty inconsequential...

I dunno; isn't that exactly how the Sea of Fallen Gods was created?  And for that matter, who says that sorcerous wars on the other side of the world aren't responsible for the ever-increasing number of moons?

If I had to come up with a reason for it, I'd note that of Weyrth's faiths, pretty much all the ones capable of generating avenging-martyr mindsets also revile sorcery as a deep sin, so those who'd be inclined to kill themselves for their faith would most likely never even be aware they have the Gift, let alone choose to develop it if they did.

And it's not unreasonable, I think, to contend that the very training and education required to achieve sorcerous mastery is incompatible with the martyrdom mindset.  How many nuclear scientists do you know who would go through all the training and education required to learn how to build a fusion bomb, simply so they could blow themselves up with their first bomb?  Far more likely that they would realize how valuable they were to the cause, and start using Conquer to send other people in with embedded Movement spells....

Cheez, I'm starting to scare myself.

[Jake Norwood]

A Sorcerer who is willing to kill himself can destroy the universe in the process

Which is actually my biggest problem with the Sorcery rules to tell the truth.  Given that today we have suicide bombers willing to kill themselves to take out a handful of their hated enemy, how unwilling would a devoted sorcerer be to prematurely age a year or two to wipe out an entire city worth of enemies.

I mean if Osama Bin Laden was a sorcerer, don't you think he'd cheerfully give up a decade of his life to turn the city of New York into a crater rather than just knock down a couple buildings?

Yet, the impact of sorcerer feuds and vendettas on Wyerth history seems pretty inconsequential...

All of this is based on the erroneous assumption that the only sorcerers in the world are the PCs and the villains... This degree of power tends to balance itself out IRL. Look at the cold war...

Jake

[arxhon]

Sslassk, eh?

More tantalizing tidbits from OBaM?

you may not resume your regularly scheduled thread. ;-)

[Brian Leybourne]

Sslassk, eh?

More tantalizing tidbits from OBaM?

you may not resume your regularly scheduled thread. ;-)

I was wondering if anyone would notice that :-)

Come on, it's my first book. You have to let me get bubbly...

Brian.

[arxhon]

hehehehe....;-)

Get as bubbly as you like, Brian. It's called teaser advertising. A very effective form of advertising. It just serves to make me want the book even more i.e. I want it yesterday.

I just noticed a typo, i meant to say "You may NOW resume your regularly scheduled thread". My apologies.

Back on topic: Is it actually possible for a Fey to die of old age from sorcery? Or do they just show the physical effects of aging?

[Brian Leybourne]

Back on topic: Is it actually possible for a Fey to die of old age from sorcery? Or do they just show the physical effects of aging?

Well, for every year they age after 40, they have to roll on the aging chart in chapter 5 (is it 5? Yeah, I think so), just like a human does.

So yeah, eventually they would die. Unless they cast a certain ritual from OBAM... ;-)

(Sorry, just more of that teaser advertising)

Brian.

[Amy1419]

Back on topic: Is it actually possible for a Fey to die of old age from sorcery? Or do they just show the physical effects of aging?

Well, for every year they age after 40, they have to roll on the aging chart in chapter 5 (is it 5? Yeah, I think so), just like a human does.

So yeah, eventually they would die. Unless they cast a certain ritual from OBAM... ;-)

(Sorry, just more of that teaser advertising)

Brian.

I know you are just doing a teaser but this makes me concerned. I like the way sorcery is, with the aging and having to make aging rolls after a certain age, etc... So if there is going to be a spell that makes a sorcerer able to just make that all go away and not suffer the effects of the aging and death than what is the point of the sorcery system? It would be contradicting to me. I mean these are just my thoughts but reading that seriously makes me lose interest, it seems like a way to powergame. Obviously I don't know the specifics but if it is as it seems than well it is kinda cheesy.

[Lance D. Allen]

I'm wondering if this is the body-snatcher spell we've discussed on the boards.. Nasty, nasty Fey. Gives a whole new, sinister explanation to "Stolen Child"

Away with us he's going,
The solemn-eyed:
He'll hear no more the lowing
Of the calves on the warm hillside
Or the kettle on the hob
Sing peace into his breast,
Or see the brown mice bob
Round and round the oatmeal-chest.
For he comes, the human child,
To the waters and the wild
With a faery, hand in hand,
From a world more full of weeping than he can
       understand.

[Jake Norwood]

I know you are just doing a teaser but this makes me concerned. I like the way sorcery is, with the aging and having to make aging rolls after a certain age, etc... So if there is going to be a spell that makes a sorcerer able to just make that all go away and not suffer the effects of the aging and death than what is the point of the sorcery system? It would be contradicting to me. I mean these are just my thoughts but reading that seriously makes me lose interest, it seems like a way to powergame. Obviously I don't know the specifics but if it is as it seems than well it is kinda cheesy.

No need to worry.

Jake

[Brian Leybourne]

What Jake said :-)

No need to worry, you got the wrong end of the stick.

Brian.