#More Focus Points for casters

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

rapid merlin
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I was playing with some friends and they were pretty disappointed when looking at their martial buddy doing 10 base dmg with a bow three times in a round without expending a single resource while as a caster they had to expend a focus point and 2 actions to shoot an arrow that did the same base damage (or 1A and 2FP if quickened)

It doesn’t help that the casters had 5/5/5 in wisdom, presence, intellect and yet the difference between how much FP they had and the archer was only 2.

I think the calculation for FP needs a rework since casters burn through FP at a substantially higher rate than martials while almost having the same amount of FP.

vital mountain
wheat cloud
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Would giving casters some kind of “cantrip” 0-focus spell help?

vital mountain
wheat cloud
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XD Fair. And if I’m understanding it right casters have a way to recover focus in combat (albeit inefficiently) if they’re out, so it’s not as big of an issue as in other games.

rapid merlin
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Tossing out an idea. What if when someone picks up a gesture (or a signature talent) they get +1FP ?

wise umbra
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Even then, damage will fall behind. Even with more focus, you won’t be able to sustain damage like the archer. It becomes a “cost vs power”

rapid merlin
wise umbra
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Focus options need more oomph for the cost, but it is a hard balancing game. It’s why magic becomes too powerful in some systems

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More focus should be given to those focused around it though.

vestal wing
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A focused mage Magic probably should be slightly worse than a focused bow user at single target - because the magic user can pick up a lot more flexibility in terms of AoE, damage types, and utility (or at least have more synergy/combinations in what they pick up, since every rune makes every gesture/inflection more flexible, and vice versa)

Though yeah that's currently too far on the "not magic" side

scarlet hearth
# wise umbra More focus should be given to those focused around it though.

Maybe this can be done through Talismans, that would avoid "non-magic users" to have more focus points, although I can't really tell how to do it 🤔
-Perhaps Talismans give some extra focus point that recharge only when resting.
-Another idea is Talismans multiplying by X your focus points depending on the quality of the Talisman.

rapid merlin
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Doesn’t have to be 1:1 due to the flexibility you mentioned, but the cost is just so much higher right now as a caster

wise umbra
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I do think the base arrow gesture may need to be more closely balanced to the mechanical 2h weapons. Which has the cost of a reload for more base damage.

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Although. That may not be quite right as with quicken (and assumingly gaining/having more focus) it would edge out the mechanical weapon as you could almost guarantee two attacks per turn vs the back and forth 2/1/2 But also you can get a thing that lets you spend focus to reload for free. So actually maybe that is more accurate

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The extra focus cost overall is for the flexibility I guess

rapid merlin
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Good conversation, thanks everyone so far for your input!

inner wind
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I agree, as it stands spell damage is lackluster given the very finite resource attached to it, unless you can take advantage of a vulnerability. At higher levels if a caster has a whole rainbow of damage types, they could do well by customizing the damage to the opponent, but starting out a fire arrow has little to offer over walking over and whacking the monster with a club, and once they're out of focus points they're in a bad spot.

wise umbra
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I feel the "recover focus" action should recover more.

inner wind
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I think there's a paradigm difference too, people are used to casters who cast throughout a fight and are otherwise nigh-useless. If you build for that in Crucible, you wind up with a few rounds of spells, then come to a screeching halt of spending rounds trying to get focus back for casting another spell or two. It may just wind up being smarter to build around a concept of being able to do non-magical actions in encounters rather than being a "pure" caster.

dusky glacier
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I think forcing people away from being able to build a pure caster would disappoint a lot of people, some just want to always been slinging spells

wise umbra
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Nobody comes in and says, you need to dive into magic to stay viable.

fair grove
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I do agree, casting could use a bit more love in terms of opportunity cost vs martial options. If the problem likes in focus point amounts itself, that could help - like maybe more base points to start. Perhaps talents could provide base points for each rune you pick up too, to help with starting costs?

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Especially since casting doesn't start out with crowd control in early tiers, it can be kinda underwhelming to fire a spell, have it be resisted, then spend a turn refocusing.

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If you add additonal focus points to each rune, it could encourage rune diversity and solves, at least intermittently, issues of focus point scaling by offsetting the base values.

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Or if not runes, gestures

wheat cloud
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I like the idea of getting bonus focus for picking up more spellcasting talents. Rewards more investment instead of just letting someone get one combo and say good enough.

wheat cloud
rapid merlin
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Or maybe have it on the talents that enhance a specific type of rune? For example, Pyromancer could grant +1 FP, a talent which I personally find to be a lackluster since it only triggers on a crit and the damage over time effect lasts 1 round.