Age of Treason Sorcery Duration Table

[alex_greene]

Does anyone else find the Age of Treason sorcery duration table on p. 60 more useful than the duration column in the sorcery Manipulation table on p. 192 of Legend Core Rulebook?

I mean, I only have the preview of AoT to go by, but that table in the preview works better if the players know that 4 Manipulation factors enables a spell to last until sunset (or sunrise), and that 5 manipulation factors allows the spell to run for a full day, while also giving the option for a high-POW character with, say, POW 16 to cast a spell with 4 Manipulation factors in duration, set to last 16 hours, or 32 hours if he applied 5 Manipulation factors instead.

Have you used the sorcery rules in both books? How do they compare to you?

 

[alex_greene]

I also feel that there should be an entry under 6 Manipulation factors, "Until no longer needed," to enable a spell to last as long as it is needed to function, such as a Fly spell which lasts until the character lands, or an Abjure (Air) spell which lasts until the character is no longer underwater.

 

[Simulacrum]

That's a bit open ended isn't it?

 

[alex_greene]

That's a bit open ended isn't it?

Nah, just that it creates spells that clean up after themselves when they're done. If you can stretch to putting 6 Manipulation factors into Duration, you should enjoy not having to worry about your Fly spell running out while you are still 350 metres above ground.

Besides, literature is filled with such magics that activate when needed and then fade out at the exact moment when they are not. Dramatically, spells like Enhance STR would last long enough for the protagonist to take care of the Juggernaut of a mook that the chief villain sends out to face him, then cut out when the hero takes on the villain so that the hero can showcase his own native strength in delivering the much-anticipated righteous beatdown at the climax of the story.

Also, such spells can still be dropped by the sorcerer at any time. Though I would not recommend that the sorcerer try this option with his Fly spell if he is still a kilometre up, unless he's just hitched a lift on a passing roc or some such.

I know, the option would tempt characters to do something like give themselves a perpetual Enhance Strength, but they don't need that Strength all the time.

The option would be used for workings which benefit others more than the sorcerer, such as a Form/Set Water spell which generates water in a dry well, keeping a village alive until the seasonal rains finally come. Things like that.