* The Problems *

It's quite apparent from reading the proposals on Safe spells that there is dissatisfaction with them (though how widespread, I don't know). Personally, I'm not totally satisfied with them either, but for different reasons. I don't like that we have six Safe spells where we used to have five spells that protected cleric casters and their targets. I think the Safe spells at present are inelegant and that there are too few differences in them to merit so many spells.

Others (Dawn Metcalf and Tim Shoemaker have active proposals) think that our current Safe spells are too weak, and that clerics don't get enough protection from them. I don't really agree with this position, but I think some compromise changes might be possible, ones that will deal with actual problems with our current Safe spells, and increase their power and versatility slightly, without creating undue complication in the rules, and without recreating the prior problem of clerics being too powerful relative to mages.

What are the actual problems with our Safe spells at present?

1. They are too numerous; there are too many spells with slight differences in function.
2. The Safe Circle spells have become useful primarily as blockades, which means that their classification as Safe spells is off.
3. The ability to be trapped while in a Safe spell (especially a Safe Retreat) makes the spells potentially dangerous for their targets.
4. We've had problems at games with people in Safe spells trying to make physical blockades, which isn't really in the spirit of the spells.

What are the benefits of our Safe spells at present?

1. They allow for moving safety much earlier in the spell progression. This is clearly better than the old Protection 3'/9' spells, which trapped the caster and those who needed safety in one location, causing them to burn more and more spell points waiting for rescue.
2. The current Safe spells still allow PCs to get out of danger, but they aren't so powerful as to be able to break games (like the old Protection, and especially Divine Protection and Sanctuary spells could).
3. They place protective abilities at more appropriate levels (e.g., 7th was too cheap for Sanctuary, 9th is better, though this is clearly a matter of debate).
4. They allow for new abilities in creating safety at many points in the cleric's progression.

Overall, I think we're better off with the new spells than the old ones. I'd like to see them refined and improved rather than thrown out.

To that end, I've written this proposal. It has a lot of parts. In it, I'm proposing four changes (several with sub-changes), each independently, that, taken as a package, would do a lot to improve our protective spells through simplifying them and increasing their versatility, while keeping them at power levels that are appropriate. (Because this proposal is big, it's quite possible that I've made mistakes in drafting it. If you spot something that looks like it's an error, please let me know.)

This proposal is a counterproposal to the following proposals currently on the RC queue:

1. http://yale.graduate.net/~johne/rc/proposals/safe.html by Dawn Metcalf. (Dawn's proposal has three parts. I disagree with the first part of it, but have proposed a compromise. I've also proposed a compromise with the second part, and I have incorporated the third part.)

2. http://yale.graduate.net/~johne/rc/proposals/safe-2.html by Tim Shoemaker. (Tim's proposal has four parts. I disagree with the first three parts, and I haven't really proposed compromises, except that I think the overall package of this proposal improves clerics' abilities with protective magic. I have proposed a compromise with the fourth part.)

3. http://yale.graduate.net/~johne/rc/proposals/sanctity.html by Dawn Metcalf. (Dawn's proposal addresses both healing and Safe spells. This proposal does not address healing spells at all, but offers a compromise with the Safe spell portion of her proposal, which is the same as the first part of her other proposal mentioned above.)

I'd also like to note that I've used ideas from Dawn Metcalf's proposal here: http://yale.graduate.net/~johne/rc/proposals/safe-circle-limits.html in this proposal.

This is the second version of this proposal. Hopefully, John will leave the original here: http://yale.graduate.net/~johne/rc/proposals/safe-3.html for reference, since I discuss things I've changed from the first version. This is trimmed down significantly from the first version, based on RC discussion and new ideas people have posted. Most significantly, I've dropped the proposal that "you can't get trapped in Safe Retreat but you must retreat," and the one that "Safe Journey is a touch-range spell." Discussion has convinced me that the first is a bad plan, and that the spell, as a low-level spell, would simply become too powerful with that change. Response to the second has been lukewarm at best, and I'm persuaded by Angela Pellegrino's argument that we could always propose this change later once we see how other changes are working out.

Other things that I've changed: I've changed the length of a Magic Wall to 9' and specified that it is a plane (not something that can be shaped, curved, etc). I've proposed stacking to work for all Safe spells, not just Safe Retreat. Along with that, I've proposed making the spells caster-only again. And I've taken a couple of subproposals away from the Strengthen proposal to make it cleaner.

* Summary of the proposed changes *

1. To put what is likely the most controversial idea first, I'm proposing that we scrap Safe Circle altogether. Its advantages over Safe Retreat and Safe Journey are minimal, and its chief utility is in its use as a blockade. I'm proposing that we replace it with Magic Wall, which is essentially a "force field" spell, useful for protection and offense.
details | proposal

2. I'm proposing a system of Safe spell stacking, allowing clerics to protect more targets with additional castings of a Safe spell. Stacking means that clerics will gain abilities with protective magic at every level. I'm also proposing, along with this, that the cleric should count as a target for the purposes of Safe spells—that is, that we revert to caster-only protection in the base spells.
details | proposal

3. I'm proposing that we drop Safe Journey and Mass Safe Journey by one level.
details | proposal

4. I'm proposing a change to meta-magic by which you can make it harder to dispel a noncombat spell whose effects aren't instantaneous. This means that a cleric could make it harder, though not impossible, to dispel Safe Journey and Mass Safe Journey. While not strictly about Safe spells, this part of the proposal creates a compromise with those who would like all Safe spells to be undispellable.
details | proposal

Finally, I've made a case for adopting these proposals as a package.
details

* The details *

1. Replace Safe Circle and Mass Safe Circle with Magic Wall

The current advantages of Safe Circle over Safe Retreat, as I see it are:

• It blocks space.
• It lasts an hour.
• You don't have to keep touching everyone while the spell is running.

Its disadvantages in relation to Safe Retreat are:

• It can be dispelled.
• You're stuck in one place while using it.
• It costs two more spell points.

Now that we have Safe Retreat and Safe Journey, Safe Circle is no longer the best way to keep people safe. If you need safety for a long time, Safe Journey is better, because you can move around. If you need to protect yourself in an emergency, Safe Retreat is better because it can't be dispelled and it lets you flee the scene. The major advantage of casting a Safe Circle is that you can create a blockade. Indeed at the games I've attended in the last year, the only use I have seen made of Safe Circles is to create blockades. That function shouldn't be lumped in with a Safe spell. Blockades are a very useful effect of Safe Circles, both for defense and offense, but I think we should have a new spell that just blockades, not a Safe spell that blockades and provides safety.

I already know that this is going to raise some hackles, so I'd like folks to know that I play a relatively high-level cleric on a regular basis, and I would rather this change were made. I find the current set of six spells to be cumbersome and inefficient. There are already 53 spells in the cleric book; that's a lot to sort through. Fewer, better spells make for easier, more effective casting. I'd never choose a Safe Circle or a Mass Safe Circle unless I needed to hold some ground. And if I do need to hold some ground, I don't think I should get the bonus of being impervious to harm while I do so.

I know some folks have an emotional attachment to circles. I really have no reply to that; I can't make a logical argument against a sentimental attachment—except perhaps to say that sentimental attachments to rules aren't the best way to make sure our rules are good.

The removal of Safe Circles would leave us with four spells from second to ninth level that allow for protecting people. I believe that that's enough spells to keep the versatility we need, but other subproposals here increase the power and versatility of the remaining Safe spells.

How would Magic Wall work in game play? It'd be like a Safe Circle, except it's a plane, not a circle, so you could go around the sides of it. The spell allows you to block a bridge, hold a door shut, put a barrier in between you and a line of orcs with swords, keep a group safe from a blast effect—all the same things we see people use Safe Circles for right now. In addition, it would allow a group of casters to trap someone with multiple castings of Magic Wall, which is also possible with Safe Circles right now, though not much used. This would represent a slight increase in cleric offensive power.

Why is this spell better than the Safe Circle spells? For two major reasons. One, because it is simpler; it preserves the useful blockade effect of Safe Circles while getting rid of some of the redundancy in the Safe spells. Two, because it's more versatile than Safe Circles in terms of its blockading ability; with the ability to create a vertical plane blockade, it's easier to hold a door and cheaper to block an average-sized hallway.

In indoor/enclosed spaces, the wall would block ceiling to floor, and wall to wall where spaces are narrower than 9', touching along uneven surfaces with no gaps. The wall would expand to close gaps while it was active, as long as it didn't exceed its maximum width. However, you can't cast it in the basement of a building and block the first floor of the same building.

The wall would allow nothing to pass through it "except clean air." This is so that someone trapped by a Magic Wall in an enclosed space won't suffocate. The Wall should be able to trap people/creatures, but not kill them. At the same time, though, I would like people to be able to block, say, poison gas with a Magic Wall. "Clean air" means both of those things are true.

If what the PCs need is both a blockade and safety for its caster, this spell still allows that. The caster can be protected by a Safe spell (Retreat or Journey) while the wall is up.

This part of my proposal isn't a compromise with anyone else's proposal. It's based on my strong opinion that the current Safe spells are too numerous and thus in need of refinement.

Potential tweaks to this idea:

- Sam Sherry has suggested that we leave one Safe Circle in the cleric canon, permanent, at ninth level. I disagree that this is a good idea. The main reason for it would be to keep some of the "flavor" of circles. While I do agree that the elimination of Safe Circle will probably feel weird to a lot of us old-timers, we got rid of the old undispellable permanent circles for a reason, and I don't think bringing them back, or creating a dispellable permanent circle, is a particularly good plan.

- There seems to be a growing consensus that we could try Magic Wall without removing Safe Circle, and that if experience proves that Safe Circle isn't getting used much (or continues to not get used much), we could remove it later, once it's clear (or clear to more people, or there's more of a general opinion) that it's not needed. Since I'm willing to give that a try, there's a subproposal for that.

proposal | back to summary

2. Allow stacking of Safe spells, and change all Safe spells to Personal (caster-only) as their base range.

I'm proposing a method of "spell stacking" (multiple simultaneous castings) that would be consistent across all Safe spells, if somewhat expensive. The way it works is simply that Safe Circle (if 1 fails), Journey, and Retreat can all be cast multiple times at once. Additional castings cost the same as the base spell cost. For each additional casting, casters can protect one additional target. At no time, however, can a caster protect more targets than their current caster level (this includes the caster if the base range changes to caster-only, but doesn't include the caster if the base range doesn't change). I know that John Eure doesn't like the caster/level restriction, but I do, and I think it goes along with the feel of power growing by level. However, I've included a subproposal to limit only by spell points.

Stacking would not affect Mass Safe spells, and I wouldn't imagine we'd want to allow a "layering" (for want of a better term) where a caster could cast a Mass Safe spell, then add more targets by casting the base spell. (E.g., I cast Mass Safe Retreat, but I'm only fifth level, so I only have five targets. I don't think we want to allow me to then cast Safe Retreat to add targets to my Mass safety.) So I think we should specify that stacking only works with a single spell, not its Mass version. And that's actually another reason that I think the caster/level limit is good: It keeps things consistent, such that a caster can always protect their level or less in targets, either through stacking or Mass spell use.

I'm also proposing to change the base range of all Safe spells back to personal, that is, protecting only the caster. This proposal is based on my, er, personal preference for the Personal range for Safe spells. It makes more intuitive sense to me, and I disagree with those who think it kills the "flavor" of being a cleric; I just don't. Part of being a cleric is casting protective magic, and sometimes that magic is self-protective. This proposal also affects the Mass versions of all Safe spells; they'd now affect one fewer target each. As part of this subproposal, I'm including dropping Safe Retreat to first level. I definitely don't think that should happen if it still protects the caster and one other person, but if it goes back to being caster-only, I think it should be first level.

I'm proposing these two together because while I strongly prefer caster-only protection for the Safe spells, I don't think it should happen without stacking. I don't think we should make clerics reach the level of Mass Safe spells before being able to protect anyone but themselves.

A potential tweak would be to to exempt Safe Circle from the caster-only change (if 1 fails). It's a spell that affects an area, and it doesn't as much sense to me to restrict the number of people that can be in an area. If people seem massively in favor of that idea, I'll add it in as a subproposal.

(I'm no longer proposing to drop the Mass version of any Safe spell as part of this.)

proposal | back to summary

3. Drop Safe Journey and Mass Safe Journey by one level.

The ability to move around freely, completely safe from harm, is an extremely powerful ability. Creating a caster-only version of it and making the Mass version cost more was, in my opinion, a good change. (Shortly after the 2001 changes were passed, the caster-only version was changed to allow one additional target; that's addressed in 2.)

There have been complaints that Mass Safe Journey is too expensive at ninth level. Dawn proposed to drop it back to seventh level, where Sanctuary was. This seems to me to still be too inexpensive for this spell, so I'm proposing eighth. If we drop Mass Safe Journey to eighth, we should also drop Safe Journey, to keep our base spell/Mass version gap of 3-4 levels consistent. Most people seem to feel that sixth and ninth are good for these spells, but I'd like to see fifth and eighth actually get a vote.

As a subproposal, I'm proposing that we drop the levels of the spells but also decrease their power by not allowing those in Safe Journey to block the passage of others (though their own passage could still be blocked).

proposal | back to summary

4. Create a way to make it harder to dispel Noncombat spells with enduring effects.

We have metamagic that lets you protect against your Combat spells being nullified, but we don't have metamagic that lets you protect against your Noncombat (or Combat) spells being dispelled. I think we should. For the purposes of these spells, Dispel Magic works like a post hoc Nullify, and I think we should allow casters to defend against that possibility.

I've modified this portion of my proposal to be a bit cleaner: I'm proposing that we either create a new effect for Fortify that prevents any fortified spell with enduring effects (Combat or Noncombat) from being dispelled by an ordinary Dispel Magic spell. I've made a subproposal that we instead use a new spell, Strengthen, that has this effect only for Noncombat spells. I've made the new effect of Fortify the default: If it passes, it supersedes Strengthen, even if Strengthen also passes.

The new effect of Fortify or Strengthen would be available to all casters (clerics, mages, and mystics) for use on spells with enduring effects. Any such spell would require a fortified Dispel Magic to dispel it, rather than just a regular Dispel Magic. However, you wouldn't have any way of knowing whether you needed to use a fortified Dispel Magic to dispel the effects, unless you tried to dispel them and failed, or unless you cast Determine Enchantment first.

This change would mean that the following spells could be strengthened against Dispel Magic (sorry, I know the table's big, but I thought it would make it easier to read):

In actual practice, the Noncombat casters would probably want to strengthen/fortify would be Wraith Form and the Safe spells. I can imagine wanting to fortify a lot of the Combat spells on both lists.

For clerics, this means that you could make the Safe Journey spells significantly safer than they are now by making them twice as hard to dispel. Granted, it would cost you twice as many spell points to do so, and would fatigue you, but it would still be a substantial benefit. For mages, this means that you can make Wraith Form a bit safer—again, at a pretty substantial cost, but with a substantial benefit.

This part of my proposal is a compromise with the idea that all Safe spells should be undispellable. I simply disagree with that notion; I think that makes them way too powerful. This change would mean that casters can at least make it twice as hard to dispel their Safe spells, and I think that's a good compromise.

Some potential tweaks to this idea:

- Instead of requiring a fortified Dispel Magic to dispel, have fortified/strengthened spells be completely undispellable. This would be most problematic in the case of Safe spells, in terms of PC power. People have spoken pretty strongly against undispellable Safe spells on the list, so I've dropped this as a subproposal. If there's an outcry for it, I'll put it back as a subproposal.

proposal | back to summary

* A case for these proposals, as a package *

If all of these proposals were passed, we would fix some problems with the Safe spells without reinstating old problems. Instead of six Safe spells, we would have only four, but clerics would still be able to do everything they can do now, and more. The problems with Safe Circle would be resolved. We would retain and improve the advantage of early access to moving safety. We would have increased ways to get PCs out of danger, for an appropriate amount of spell points. A cleric's ability to create safety would improve with every level.

The overall state of our Safe spells would look like this: Every caster with any Cleric Magic could cast some form of Safe spell. At fifth level, clerics could create safety for up to an hour (or longer with multiple castings). Clerics would still have one type of Safe spell that couldn't be dispelled, and they'd be able to boost their other ones so that they were harder to dispel. Clerics would gain some nifty new protective abilities that could also double as offensive abilities when used creatively.

As a package, I think this set of proposals will help alleviate some of the dissatisfaction with Safe spells. It will make them simpler and more versatile. It will increase the power of clerics in terms of their protective abilities, but not in an unbalancing fashion.

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* The actual proposals *

1. Replace Safe Circle and Mass Safe Circle with Magic Wall.

— Eliminate Safe Circle and Mass Safe Circle, and all references to them.

— Add this new spell at cleric level 4, touch, Combat:

Magic Wall
This spell creates a vertical plane of magical force up to nine feet wide and as high as the closest overhead obstacle. The wall does not move, but remains fixed. If cast in a space smaller than its maximum dimensions, the wall will fill a vertical area up to those dimensions. It will touch floor, ceiling, and walls along its edges without gaps, but will not extend into the floor, ceiling, or walls. If cast in an open space, the wall is too high to shoot arrows or throw spell components or other objects over its top.

The wall is visible as a shimmer, but can otherwise be seen and heard through as empty space. The wall can not be scaled or otherwise climbed, and will not support weight (e.g., you can't lean a ladder on it; the ladder would slide down or fall away). The wall is impervious to spells and attacks in either direction; nothing may pass through the wall except clean air. Sight-range spells are stopped by the wall if the caster can only see the target through the wall.

The wall requires the proximity of the caster to persist; the caster must remain within one step of the wall (that is, able to touch it by moving only one foot), or the wall will vanish. The caster may speak, cast other spells, and otherwise act normally while maintaining the wall. The spell lasts for one hour or until the caster wishes it to end. A caster can only maintain one Magic Wall at a time.

To indicate the Magic Wall, the caster must place a nine-foot length of yellow or gold rope on the ground.

(Material component: nine feet of rope)

1a. As above, but keep Safe Circle and Mass Safe Circle.

If both 1 and 1a pass, whichever one gets more "yes" votes would take effect.

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2. Allow stacking of Safe spells.

— In the texts of Safe Circle (only if 1 fails), Safe Journey, and Safe Retreat, after "The caster may begin a new Safe [Circle/Journey/Retreat] while one is currently running, and through multiple castings may maintain a continuous safety for more than one hour." add:

The caster can cast this spell multiple times simultaneously to include more targets in the safety. For each additional casting, one more target may be protected in the safety. The maximum number of times a caster can cast the spell at once is the caster's level (and thus the maximum number of targets in the safety is also the caster's level).

— In the texts of Mass Safe Circle (only if 1 fails), Mass Safe Journey, and Mass Safe Retreat, after "protects one target per level of the caster" add:

Unlike Safe [Circle/Journey/Retreat], this spell may not be cast multiple times simultaneously to include more targets.

2a. (only if 2 passes) Remove the caster/level restriction on stacking.

— Remove "The maximum number of times a caster can cast the spell at once is the caster's level (and thus the maximum number of targets in the safety is also the caster's level)."

2b. (only if 2 passes) Change base range of all Safe spells to Personal and drop Safe Retreat to first level

— (only if 1 fails) In Safe Circle change this:

This spell creates a three-foot diameter circle around the caster and one target, both of whom must be inside the circle at the time of casting. The circle is impervious to spells and attacks going either in or out; nothing outside the circle may enter it. The circle does not move, but remains fixed. A target who leaves the circle may not return. If the caster leaves the circle (or dies), it is dispelled.

to this:

This spell creates a three-foot diameter circle around the caster. The circle is impervious to spells and attacks going either in or out; nothing outside the circle may enter it. The circle does not move, but remains fixed. If the caster leaves the circle (or dies), it is dispelled.

and change this:

Throughout the casting of this spell, the caster and target are protected by an aura of safety, per the Safe Journey spell (and so should use the appropriate props, gestures, and words).

to this:

Throughout the casting of this spell, the caster is protected by an aura of safety, per the Safe Journey spell (and so should use the appropriate props, gestures, and words).

— In Safe Journey, change this:

This spell creates an aura of magical protection around the caster and one target who must be touching the caster at the time of casting. A target who leaves the safety (that is, stops touching the caster) may not return. For as long as the safety lasts, they are impervious to harm by any magical or physical means. They may talk and move around during the spell, but may not attack or cast spells on targets outside the spell's protection.

to this:

This spell creates an aura of magical protection around the caster. For as long as the safety lasts, the caster is impervious to harm by any magical or physical means. The caster may talk and move around during the spell, but may not attack or cast spells on targets outside the spell's protection.

— In Safe Retreat change this:

This spell creates an aura of magical protection around the caster and one target who must be touching the caster at the time of casting. A target who leaves the safety (that is, stops touching the caster) may not return. For as long as the safety lasts, they are impervious to harm by any magical or physical means. They may talk and move around during the spell, but may not attack or cast spells on targets outside the spell's protection.

During the course of the spell the targets may either stand still or retreat. If the targets choose to retreat, they must proceed to a known safe location without approaching combat or danger including foes, traps, acid pools, etc. (Multiple enemies surrounding them may prevent them from retreating; they cannot move through a dangerous zone to escape.) If the targets choose to remain where they are, they should avoid being an obstruction and move out of the way of combat.

to this:

This spell creates an aura of magical protection around the caster. For as long as the safety lasts, the caster is impervious to harm by any magical or physical means. The caster may talk and move around during the spell, but may not attack or cast spells on targets outside the spell's protection.

During the course of the spell the caster may either stand still or retreat. A caster who chooses to retreat must proceed to a known safe location without approaching combat or danger including foes, traps, acid pools, etc. (Multiple enemies surrounding the caster may prevent a retreat; the caster cannot move through a dangerous zone to escape.) A caster who chooses to remain in place should avoid being an obstruction and move out of the way of combat.

— (only if 1 fails) In Mass Safe Circle, change this:

This spell acts as Safe Circle but creates a nine-foot diameter circle and protects one target per level of the caster.

to this:

This spell acts as Safe Circle but creates a nine-foot diameter circle and protects one target per level of the caster. A target who leaves the circle may not return. The caster counts as one target.

— In Mass Safe Journey, change this:

This spell acts as Safe Journey but protects one target per level of the caster.

to this:

This spell acts as Safe Journey but protects one target per level of the caster. All targets must be touching the caster at the time of casting. A target who leaves the safety (that is, stops touching the caster) may not return. The caster counts as one target.

— In Mass Safe Retreat, change this:

This spell acts as Safe Retreat but protects one target per level of the caster.

to this:

This spell acts as Safe Retreat but protects one target per level of the caster. All targets must be touching the caster at the time of casting. A target who leaves the safety (that is, stops touching the caster) may not return. The caster counts as one target.

— Change the range of Safe Circle (if 1 fails), Safe Journey, and Safe Retreat to Personal in the spell table.

— Drop Safe Retreat to first level.

back to summary

3. Drop Safe Journey and Mass Safe Journey by one level.

— Drop Safe Journey to fifth level and drop Mass Safe Journey to eighth level.

3a. (only takes effect if 3 fails) Drop the spells by one level and reduce their power.

— Drop Safe Journey to fifth level and drop Mass Safe Journey to eighth level.

— In Rules of Gameplay, Other Effects, Safe Spells, change this:

However those in a Safe Journey spell may block the path of (and have their path blocked by) others. As a guideline, those in the spell should avoid approaching within arms' length of any enemy, and vice versa.

to this:

Those protected by Safe Journey and Safe Retreat may not block the path of others, although they may have their path blocked. As a guideline, those in Safe Journey should avoid approaching within arms' length of any enemy, and vice versa.

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4. Give Fortify a new effect on spells with enduring effects.

— In Fortify, after this:

This meta-magic prevents the use of any counterspells upon a single Combat spell that you cast. (Defensive spell effects, such as Magic Absorption, will still work against the spell.)

add this:

This spell also prevents an ordinary Dispel Magic from dispelling the noninstantaneous effects of a single spell that you can cast. (To dispel the effects of a fortified spell, a fortified Dispel Magic is required.)

— In the Rules of Gameplay, Rules of Magic, Special Spell Types, Meta-Magic, change this:

Meta-magic is special Combat magic that affects normal Combat spells. There are two types: counterspells (Nullify, Reflect, and Redirect) and Fortify. Clerics and mystics may only use Nullify and Fortify; mages may use any meta-magic they wish.

to this:

Meta-magic is special magic that affects normal Combat spells and some Noncombat spells. There are two types: counterspells (Nullify, Reflect, and Redirect) and Fortify. Clerics and mystics may only use Nullify and Fortify; mages may use any meta-magic they wish.

and change this:

Fortify prevents any counterspells from being used on a Combat spell that you cast, but it fatigues the caster for five minutes (see the section on fatigue, p. 55), thus making them unable to stand, fight, walk unassisted, or cast spells for five minutes.

to this:

Fortify prevents any counterspells from being used on a Combat spell that you cast, and prevents an ordinary Dispel Magic from dispelling noninstantaneous effects of spells that you can cast (a fortified Dispel Magic is required instead). Fortify fatigues the caster for five minutes (see the section on fatigue, p. 55), thus making them unable to stand, fight, walk unassisted, or cast spells for five minutes.

4a. (only takes effect if 4 fails) Create the spell Strengthen to guard against the dispelling of Noncombat spells.

— Create a new meta-magic spell, Strengthen (meta-magic Noncombat, cost of 2x the base spell), as follows:

This spell prevents an ordinary Dispel Magic from dispelling the noninstantaneous effects of a single Noncombat spell that you can cast. (To dispel the effects of a strengthened spell, a fortified Dispel Magic is required.)

After casting a strengthened spell, the caster will be fatigued for five minutes—fatigued characters are unable to fight, cast spells, or even stand.

— In the Rules of Gameplay, Rules of Magic, Special Spell Types, Meta-Magic, change this:

Meta-magic is special Combat magic that affects normal Combat spells. There are two types: counterspells (Nullify, Reflect, and Redirect) and Fortify. Clerics and mystics may only use Nullify and Fortify; mages may use any meta-magic they wish.

to this:

Meta-magic is special magic that affects normal Combat spells and some Noncombat spells. There are two types: counterspells (Nullify, Reflect, and Redirect) and other metaspells (Fortify and Strengthen). Clerics and mystics may only use Nullify, Fortify, and Strengthen; mages may use any meta-magic they wish.

change this:

Fortify prevents any counterspells from being used on a Combat spell that you cast, but it fatigues the caster for five minutes (see the section on fatigue, p. 55), thus making them unable to stand, fight, walk unassisted, or cast spells for five minutes. Fortify is not cast separately, but is conjoined to the spell to be fortified.

to this:

Fortify prevents any counterspells from being used on a Combat spell that you cast. Strengthen prevents an ordinary Dispel Magic from dispelling noninstantaneous effects of Noncombat spells that you can cast (a fortified Dispel Magic is required instead). Both spells fatigue casters for five minutes (see the section on fatigue, p. 55), thus making them unable to stand, fight, walk unassisted, or cast spells for five minutes. Fortify and Strengthen are not cast separately, but are conjoined to the spell to be fortified.

and change this:

Casting a fortified spell costs twice as much as it would cost to cast the spell.

to this:

Casting a fortified or strengthened spell costs twice as much as it would cost to cast the spell.

back to summary