4.2.5 Resistance enchantments

Enchantment nature: Resistance

Magical skill used: Earth, Fire, Projection, Stasis, Water; Earth and Stasis magic are best.

Characteristic used: WP

Description: A resistance enchantment is one that increases the target's resistance to damage. Multiple resistance enchantments are not cumulative; a character with multiple resistance enchantments applies the best one only (his/her player's choice) against each attack. Multiple resistance enchantments may complement each other. For example, a character might have a mental resistance enchantment (that he/she applies against mental attacks) and a fire resistance enchantment (that he/she applies against fire attacks) at the same time.

Power: The power of a resistance enchantment determines how much protection the enchantment provides. Each point of power is normally added to the target's damage resistance, for the purposes of reducing the damage done by an attack. A power 6 resistance enchantment is the equivalent of wearing light mail.

The minimum Power of a resistance enchantment is 1.

Finesse: The finesse of a resistance enchantment determines how much of the target is protected and what kind of damage the resistance protects against, as follows:

Finesse Type of damage from which protected
0 One type of damage (from impaling, cutting, crushing, heat, cold, flashes of bright light or mental)
1 Two types of damage (e.g. heat and cold)
2 Three types of damage (e.g. all physical damage i.e. impaling, cutting and crushing)
3 Four types of damage
4 Five types of damage
5 All types of damage
Finesse Coverage
+0 One specific area of the character's body (e.g. arm, leg, head, etc.) only
+1 Part of the character's body (e.g. both legs, body, both arms) only or from a specific direction (e.g. front, rear) only
+2 All areas of the character's body
Finesse Compatibility with armour
+0 Resistance counts as substitute for armour protection value (i.e. use the higher of armour's protection value and resistance when calculating defender's damage resistance). For example, a character with ST +2, Armour 6 and a Power 4 resistance enchantment would have a damage resistance of 8.
+1 Resistance partially cumulative with armour protection value (i.e. use the higher of armour's protection value and resistance, plus half the lower, when calculating defender's damage resistance). For example, a character with ST +2, Armour 6 and a Power 4 resistance enchantment would have a damage resistance of 10.
+3 Resistance totally cumulative with armour protection value (i.e. use both the armour's protection value and the resistance, when calculating defender's damage resistance). For example, a character with ST +2, Armour 6 and a Power 4 resistance enchantment would have a damage resistance of 12.

Limitations: The magical skill used limits the effects of the resistance the caster can perform. The referee should apply discretion, but the following list may help.

Skill Resistance restrictions:
Earth Earth armour. Provides protection against physical damage only.
Fire Fire resistance. Provides protection against heat and fire only.
Light Flash defence. Provides protection against flash attacks only.
Projection Mental resistance. Provides protection against mental attacks only. Must always cover all areas of character's body.
Stasis Self protection. Can provides protection against any form of damage. Only the caster can be protected. Area of effect and range must be 0.
Water Cold resistance. Provides protection against cold only.

Examples:

Ben Ruben has a Stasis magic score of 4 with no specialism in resistance, and a WP of +5 1/2. He wants to protect himself against damage for the next week. He, therefore, seeks to cast a Resistance enchantment with Power 5, Finesse 7 (All types of damage, all areas of the body, not cumulative with armour), Range Self (i.e. 0), Concealment 3 (not obvious), Duration 1 Week (i.e. 5), Area of effect Single target (i.e. 0), Investment 0 = Difficulty 20 in total. His basic value is 4 + 5 1/2 = 9 1/2. He spends an hour preparing the enchantment and uses hand gestures and words when casting to give a modifier of +6, giving a basic value of 15 1/2. He isn't prepared to risk a backfire, so he risks 12 points to get a dice roll of 4D+ 3 1/2 (so that his worst possible result would be a failure by 12 1/2 points, not enough for a backfire). In the event, he rolls a 3, 4, 6 and 5, giving a dice roll result of 21 1/2, i.e. a complete success. For the next week, Ben Ruben has a damage resistance of 5, which given his low ST score and lack of armour, could make all the difference between life and death for him.

Tim has a Fire magic score of 5 with no specialism in resistance, and a WP of +2. He is leading a group of adventurers through lava caves and wants to protect them against the intense heat. The referee rules that a Power 8 fire resistance enchantment will be enough to prevent damage. Tim, therefore, seeks to cast a Resistance enchantment with Power 8, Finesse 2 (Fire damage only, all areas of the body, not cumulative with armour), Range Self (i.e. 0), Concealment 0 (obvious to onlookers), Duration 1 Hour (i.e. 3), Area of effect 3 metre diameter (i.e. 2), Investment 0 = Difficulty 15 in total. His basic value is 5 + 2 = 7. He spends 10 minutes preparing the enchantment and uses hand gestures and words when casting to give a modifier of +5, plus the referee rules that the proximity to the lava caves gives him a +2 modifier to the use of Fire magic. This gives him an overall basic value of 14. He risks 6 points to get a dice roll of 2D+ 8. In the event, he rolls a 3 and 2, giving a dice roll result of 13, i.e.he fails by 2 points. Given the importance of this enchantment, he chooses the magical effect to materialise as desired and loses a tiredness level. The party will be protected provided they stay close to Tim as they travel through the lava caves. Let's hope they get out before the enchantment runs out....