AoE Spells Against Players

question
#1

I am interested in hearing how some of you handle AoE spells that monsters cast in ICRPG, specifically what determines whether the players are affected? In my case an enemy cast Pyroblast and I rolled INT against the room target. One of my players mildly objected after the fact stating that the difficulty of the action against the players should not be dependent on the room target but on some attribute of the targeted players (armor, or something else). As I read the spell, it seems like the room target is appropriate, but I want to get your take on it.

Also, when dealing “double magical damage”, do you use 2d12 or (1d12 * 2)?

#2

IMHO players should always roll, you as the GM should rely on the room target for everything you do as a GM. I’m not sure thats how ICRPG works (I do not own the books) but I thinks that how it should be! Players will always gripe, no matter the system, when you take away their agency - in this way, even if they failed, it was them that failed not just GM fiat.

#3

I always roll against the player’s ARMOR and that will give the opportunity for some players to avoid damage with AoE’s. And in some games, if it seems appropriate, I let everyone roll DEX to dodge and take HALF the damage, depending on the spell. Especially if it’s something slower like a lobbed fireball rather than a lightning bolt.

And for the DOUBLE, i always took that to mean (1d8 * 2)

#4

If my baddies are casting spells, I have the players roll a check against the room target to see if they can avoid it.

It’s rare that I use a spell that the baddie has to roll to cast. Removing casting rolls from the baddies can make them feel more deadly and puts the pressure on the players’ dice to save them from whatever evilness I’m trying to inflict upon them.

#5

Thanks, I see my mistake in assuming that magic damage was a d12.

#6

The pyroblast spell inflicts double magic damage “on three NEAR targets. On a failed roll, choose 3 random targets.” Given the text of the spell it seems fitting to roll against the room target (unless you decide to assume success as gh0sth0rse mentioned).

#7

For any “double” effort/damage rolls, we always roll and total the required number of dice rather than just roll a single die and apply a multiplier.

By rolling and totaling individual dice we get a greater overall range of results (though they skew toward the middle of the range) and have a lesser chance of rolling either the best or worst results.

And it’s always fun to roll more than 1 die for damage/effort!

#8

With something like an AOE I’d let the players roll to avoid or possibly take 1/2 damage depending on how big the area effect is. I would also let the type of spell decide what stat to roll. Something physical could use STR, DEX, CON, or Armor while a mental could use INT or WIS and a control or charm could use CHA.

For the Effort dice I’m all for rolling as many as I can get my GM hands on, hehe.

#9

This is slightly tangent but let me pull out math out of my pocket.

If you were to multiply a d8 with 2:
You’ll get results between 2-16 but those will only be even. Each result will have the same probability. The average result over multiple rolls will be 9.

If you were to roll 2d8:
You’ll still get results between 2-16 but you’ll have all the range (odds and evens). Extreme results will be rare (results closer to 2 and 16), average result (9) will be more frequent.

So rolling 2d8 is better and is more fun and that is backed by science! :grin:

As for the subject matter, I give my players the opportunity to evade or reduce damage most of the time but sometimes unavoidable damage is necessary to instill fear in their “nothing can harm us” hearts.