[pnpgm] And now for something out of the ordinary..

[John Hooten]

In addition to Scott's post, I feel I should put a bit more comment

As the player I will often mention things that I thought others missed, 
cautions on actions whatever
Doing so does not mean your actions were wrong but simply you may have 
forgotten something
I will mention things just in case, especially if I see posts that 
appear not to take things into account
I do not want actual oopses to ruin things, but it is always the players 
call on how the character acts in the end
And sometimes you get a pleasant surprise when things actually work, 
dice are quite funny at times.

People often forget to check the spell details before casting and the 
results can be devastating to the campaign
But equally there are times when such actions fit the character and 
situation and the character may not know the risks or feel them worth 
the chance
People are not running Master Mages so mistakes could be seen as proper
So I will add this for all spell casters, be aware of the spells limits 
especially those that can result in abysmals as that can affect more 
than just the caster.
I remember using one of the 'new' abysmal charts and having one spell 
oops KILL the party...Yes KILL as it exploded magic items in a radius 
and there were a lot of them
I let that result stand as a lesson to those players, magic is fun but 
carries risks.
I have also had a case where the Abysmal helped the character by 
changing the actions he was going to take, but that is quite rare.

Raban has held back from using magic even when his life was threatened 
because he did not want to risk others, that fits the character.
Other characters may feel using magic in a combat even though it may 
draw attention and troops later is worth that risk and if they need it 
to save lives then likely they are right.
The party has to survive to take on the Vong so it is quite a tricky balance

The current fight is a case in point
The flyer is dangerous, if magical then it already is drawing potential 
attention to the fight, if not magical then we have to choose that risk
Until we try non magical attacks we will not know if magic is required
Vong are resistant to direct magical attacks so if magic is used it is 
best used indirectly
Caution: High MDV effects versus middle ranked casters generally means 
you have a higher chance to abysmal than damage the target and a huge 
chance of failure.
So unless you are highly skilled and have a staff and use Purification, 
Luck and every other boost you can get, you are more likely to kill 
yourself or friends than the enemy.
I have often ran characters with MDVs in the 60s and some even more than 
100, their jobs are to make the enemy casters kill themselves or waste 
time casting useless spells, it is very effective.
So if this flyer is Vong, it may be practically spell immune or it may 
be not quite that high of MDV so that spells could work, we do not know
Those that have faced the Vong have reported few spells have worked, ever.

So what about indirect spells?
Boosting weapons, skills etc works
Transmuting things can be useful but is greatly limited by the 
imagination of the caster and what the GM allows
Destruction of materials near the Vong works but much better on the ground
Summoning soul eating monsters could work but has other issues
depending on how it flys, wind may work
Combinations of those can be fun, use wind to cause it to crash into a 
transmuted wall or into a transmuted hole which can then be changed back 
solid
Lots of things can work without the risk of MDV and is one of the most 
useful skills a Mage can learn as it is always useful against another 
mage since they tend to have the highest MDV

So with the time available people could mask spells or prepare lots of 
boosts etc
recommendations if magic is going to be used is to first cast LUCK as it 
boosts everything you do

And yes I know, most of you likely know all of this, but if there are 
any that don't then the post is useful
Sorry if this offends anyone

Problem Summary:
1) Use of magic may draw attention to cause us grief later but we may 
not have much choice in this fight
2) If Vong, direct magic has proven near useless in historic encounters 
but we do not know if that is true here
3) Loss of the Wagon would also cause major problems and delays
4) Loosing horses will delay things greatly
5) Injuries will require healing and also delay things or cause problems 
if left untreated
6) Casualties could prevent this mission from succeeding

Solution:
Try archery to see if that will damage the flyer as it is about the only 
non magic solution
If it works, Sidh Archery magic could improve on it without MDV risk but 
may need to be masked
If it fails then magic is about the only choice
Magic- Try to ground it for melee weapon attempts.
Wind or Transmute could provide a means to ground it.
Free for all- try anything as we do not know what may work
Raban could try to fly up and punch it etc, but it is very fast so 
timing is tricky

Or run screaming and hope it doesn't chase us