Defensive Spells

[dabob]

My reading of the rules gives me a grand sum of two defensive spells, one of which is level 3, the Dispel. Just how good is this spell, it seems that the rule as written is ambiguous. If I understand correctly, this is what happens:

The attacker casts his spell with a die roll.

Then the defender casts his spell with a die roll but only if he has defensive magic.

Finally both spells take effect simulaneously.

So, if an enemy mage gets his fireball spell off and my mage is in the area of effect and is successful with his dospel, is the entire spell dispelled, i.e. no one else is affected by it? The way I read it that is what should happen.

 

Thanks in advance ,

bob

[Froggy the Great]

I'm not sure how that works with AoE spells, yeah. I'm pretty sure that if someone casts Scare or Hold or something on a caster, something with a sustained effect, then Dispell would be good. I'm not sure how it affects spells with an instantaneous effect or an AoE effect.

 

Can we get official clarification?

[shakhak]

Not official clarification but, the way I have been playing is that Dispel does not affect spells that take effect instantly. When used with spells like Hold, Scare, Slow, etc. it cancels the hampering effect.

[dewen]

Can we get official clarification?

I have wondered about AoE spells myself. The spells description lists spells like hold, slow, ect.

 

- de

[Akela]

If an Area of Effect spell

a) has the Enemy Model (usually a Wizard) in its Area of Effect

b) the Enemy Model (usually a Wizard) has the Defensive Magic Special Ability

c) the Enemy Model can cast the "Dispel" spell

 

...then the Enemy Spellcaster may roll to see if the entire Area of Effect spell is Dispelled.

 

Wizards are not only offensive, they are also able to "counter" instant magic as well as remove lingering effects. The lesson for the defender there is to use high level Wizards as a protective "umbrella" and shield your troops from potential enemy spells. The lesson for the attacker there is to not cast Area of Effect spells into areas with Wizards that might have the ability to Dispel the attack spell until the enemy wizard has used up the Dispel or is dead.

 

Unfortunately it is too late to clarify the text of the Dispel spell in the printing but the last sentence should say "Dispel" instead of "Counter" (Counter was the spell's original name in playtesting and the sentence wasn't updated) and in hindsight I should have put an example spell like Fireball in the list of example spells.

[dabob]

Thanks Matt! That makes the Dispel a very powerful spell indeed. Now how do I shoehorn in a Level 3 mage in my army? hmmmmm.

[Cerridwyn1st]

I have another question - what would affect, if any, would a familiar have on a Dispelled spell? Would it be returned to the caster?

[Akela]

Gone. As if the spell had been successful. The Dispel "eats" it.