Wraith Recon - Spellcom questions

[Titus]

I have a couple of questions related to Spellcom.

1. For resisting against magic items, is it the intent that we roll opposed skill rolls? The way it is worded, it seems to be that the Grimoire skill percentage is the target number. I interpretted that to mean the "spell" roll was equal to the grimoire skill that made the item. 60% grimoire skill means the roll was effectively a 60.

2. The list of forbidden spells on page 66 has Dominate(Humanoid) and Smother. But the grimoire for the Department of Interrogation has Dominate(Humanoid) and the grimoire for the Department of Ordnance has Smother. Were these supposed to be other spells in the grimoires? Is the list of forbidden spells wrong? Or is this an example of the moral ambiguities in the setting?

I really like this setting and am planning to run at least few missions for a group that used to play a lot of Top Secret. I think they will enjoy the weirdness of Special Ops in a fantasy setting. And even if I don't do a long term WR game, I plan to borrow lots of stuff from this setting for my own world.

 

[Mongoose Pete]

1. For resisting against magic items, is it the intent that we roll opposed skill rolls? The way it is worded, it seems to be that the Grimoire skill percentage is the target number. I interpretted that to mean the "spell" roll was equal to the grimoire skill that made the item. 60% grimoire skill means the roll was effectively a 60.

You interpreted it correctly. When creating things like magic items the enchanter has time to cast/craft the object to the best of their skill. Thus you treat the spell's roll as the skill of its creator (at the time it was created). Its one of the advantages to crafting certain magic items.

2. The list of forbidden spells on page 66 has Dominate(Humanoid) and Smother. But the grimoire for the Department of Interrogation has Dominate(Humanoid) and the grimoire for the Department of Ordnance has Smother. Were these supposed to be other spells in the grimoires? Is the list of forbidden spells wrong? Or is this an example of the moral ambiguities in the setting?

Well spotted. It is part of the moral ambiguities of the setting. Those spells are banned in general across Dardarrick and even within SpellCom itself the assumption is that nobody would use them - however individual departments have their own temptations and dirty little secrets.

I really like this setting and am planning to run at least few missions for a group that used to play a lot of Top Secret. I think they will enjoy the weirdness of Special Ops in a fantasy setting. And even if I don't do a long term WR game, I plan to borrow lots of stuff from this setting for my own world.

Glad you like it. There's a lot of useful material in the book that can easily be applied to other settings, along with its fair share of black humour and cultural Easter-eggs.