I really hate it when I lose what I was typing, I really need to remember to copy the whole thing before hitting preview....

Anyways...

So I was playing my second game of WotR the other night and a few questions came up (what a surprise!) regarding spellcasters. I was still the newbie so I just accepted what my partner said, but after I got back home and looked through the rule book I am wondering if he was wrong on a few points.

First, he claimed that if you roll a "1" for the effect of one of your spells, then you can not cast any more spells with that caster that turn. I only see reaching your mastery level and failing a focus roll as stopping you from casting spells. Am I missing something?

Second, he claimed that if an epic hero spellcaster casts a spell and then jumps to another formation then he can not cast another spell that turn. This one is a bit more complicated than the last one...

On pg. 68 it states under Moving Epic Heroes an Epic Hero can travel from one formation to another at the start of his formation's move and on pg. 70 under Using Magical Powers it states A Hero can employ a magical power in the Move phase, when it is his turn to move. A magical power can be used at any point during the Hero's movement - before moving, afterwards, or at any point in between.

I suppose I can see this one either way. What do you all think? Crystal clear one way or another? Missing something entirely? Wait on the FAQ?

Third, does a spellcaster have to cast all of his spells at once? Basically can I cast a spell before moving and then move and cast spells once I reach my destination? The wording on pg. 70 under Focus states However, if a spellcaster wishes to attempt a further spell, he must roll to see if he can maintain Focus... If the result is equal to or greater than the Focus rating, the spellcaster's concentration has bene successfully maintained. He can immediately cast a second spell

The "immediately" is the key word there, but does that mean immediately after rolling focus, or does it mean you need to cast it immediately after your first spell? To me it seems like the former, but I could see the latter argued.

Fourth, the book states that you can cast spells "at any point in between{movement}". Do you take this to mean that you can stop movement in between and cast or do you have to move full, cast, and then at the double to keep moving? I.E. would moving 4" and casting and then moving 2" be legal? Or is the only way to cast in between movement moving 6" and casting and then doing an at the double move? Once again the former seems right to me, but the latter has its own merits.

Thanks in advance for any input! Hopefully the first question isn't the only one that can be answered before that FAQ finally comes.

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hmmmm.....

I bet you are a bit peved after typing all that lot and lose it
1) Your mate is wrong, as you have read, failing a focus roll prevents you from casting another spell.

2,3,4) He can cast at anytime during his movement, you don't have to do a double move. So he could cast at the beginning of his move, jump formation, cast a spell, move with his new formation x" and then cast again.
Where you mention "immediately" the word before that is "can" so its an option and not compulsory to.
I'm pretty certain that there is an example of casting spells and jumping formation in the rules somewhere.

Welcome to the game and the community at One Ring, War_illithid!

I somewhat chuckled inside when I read your questions - since I think everyone of us who play WotR have at one point or another ran into all these same things! First and foremost my advice is: Stick with it - and be patient with the confusion with the rules. The game in and of itself is great fun - and very rewarding when the ruleset becomes more familiar.

My answers are very similar to Hithero's - but I just wanted to add my 2 cents so you know that there are several that think the same way you do about this.



If you roll a 1 for the effect of your spell - then THAT spell fails. The failing of THAT spell has no effect on the continuation of spell casting. If that was the case, then the mastery level of the caster would be useless ... and taking a level 3 Ringwraith would be no different from taking a level 1 urukhai shaman.

Here's an example that I see more often than not while playing against Jayha85:

Druzhag the Beastcaller is a master level 2 caster with spells of Ruin and Wilderness. First, he tries to cast Shatter Shields and then follow it up with a Fireball.

To accompish this, he needs to do the following:
. First, Roll for the effect of Shatter Shields
. Second, Roll for the focus (of Shatter Shields) to cast Fireball
. Third, Roll for the effect of Fireball

Here's usually what happens:
. Rolling for the effect of Shatter Shileds: _1_ (failed cast)
- This usually is follwed by Jayha85 scowling and me jumping around screaming "Yeah, Yeah, Yeah ...."
. Rolling for the Focus of Shatter Shields: _6_ (pass focus)
- This usually is followed by Jayha85 smirking and me stopping still ...
. Rolling for the effect of Fireball: _6_ (pass cast with outrageous effect)
- This usually is followed with me using Aragorn's free might to resist the spell and getting a _5_, thusly resisting the effect! LMAO

So, the short answer is: Your opponent is wrong ... the roll of a 1 fails the cast but DOES NOT prevent a 2+ level caster from continuing casting his spells (as long as the focus roll is met).



You are right on this one, the confusion here is due to that fact that this is open to interpretation about what is meant by "start of his formation's move" as described on page 68 for jumping heros. We (Jayha85 and I) take that text literally, and jump formation with our epic heros FIRST before any formation moves or before any casting is done.

We follow the rule of: Normal Action << Heroic Action << Epic Action .

That is to say: Epic actions happen BEFORE heroic actions BEFORE normal actions. In the case of formation jumping, this is an Epic Action, where spell casting is a Heroic Action.

So, to answer this question - the way we play it ... The Epic Hero can jump formations ONCE at the BEGINNING of the move phase and then from the new formation's field of view/range may cast any spells that he would like.



The spellcaster does not HAVE to cast all his spells at one time. You already somewhat answered your own question wiht this one: "According to page 70 under Using Magical Powers it states A Hero can employ a magical power in the Move phase, when it is his turn to move. A magical power can be used at any point during the Hero's movement - before moving, afterwards, or at any point in between."

The caster can cast at any point during the move phase. This is nice, since there may be the situation where you are trying to dodge line of sight from archers. Consider the following for a move phase: (A = Archers, F = Forest, I = Infantry, C = caster [ringwraith], _ = empty space)

Beginning of move:

_____________ AAAA _______________
_____________ AAAA _______________
________FFFFFF___FFFFFFFF__________
_________IIIC _____________________
_________IIII ______________________


After the move:

_____________ AAAA _______________
_____________ AAAA _______________
________FFFFFF___FFFFFFFF_________
_______________________ II ________
_______________________ II ________
_______________________ II ________
_______________________ IC _______

The infantry formation with the caster is trying to skirt from the forrest on the left to the forrest on the right to prevent getting shot at during the upcomming shoot phase and charged during the upcomming charge phase. Ideally, how this would be played would be:

. The caster at the beginning of the move phase casts WINGS OF TERROR on his formation to allow them to make the wheel to the right and move the extra distance to the other forrest.
. The infantry formation then moves between the two forrests to get line of sight with the archers.
. The caster then makes his focus roll for WINGS OF TERROR and passes, so immediately then casts SUNDER SPIRIT to drop the courage of the archers
. The caster then makes his focus roll for SUNDER SPIRIT and passes, so immediately then casts VISION OF WOE to wreck havoc
. The infantry formation then moves the rest of its move distance to get to the safety of the forrests on the right (to prevent the shoot phase and charge phase of the archers)



Continuing with the above example ... let's say that the Wings of Terror just wasn't enough to make it all the way to the right forrest ... in this case, after moving the full distance with Wings of Terror, the infantry formation can then take a courage test to perform an On the Double to get the rest of the way. The caster can cast at ANYTIME ... even after the on the double was made - as long as it is still the move phase.

Hopefully this helped a little - fell free to ask more questions if you are still confused about something. We love to discuss these type of things!

First off, thanks a lot for your help guys!



I am fairly certain that a will of iron roll has to be made before rolling the effect of a spell. According to the text on pg 71 under Will of Iron To resist a spell, nominate a Hero in the formation immediately as the formation is chosen as the target of a spell

Sounds to me that the order would then be...
1. Declare spell and target
2. Opponent declares will of iron
3. Roll for spell effect

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hmmmm.....

Yes - rereading, you are correct! The Will of Iron will have to epend the might before the effect roll is made. good catch!

I'm glad that some of the examples were helpful, too.

I agree with hithero I think they can cast them jump formation and cast agian, I will say that he can't move with the first formation then cast then jump and move agian I think the jump has to come at the start of the move phase and the casting part says anytime during his move phase, so I see no reason why he can't cast jump and continue to cast if he passes his focus roll.

Sildien

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I don't know half of you half as well as I should like; and I like less than half of you half as well as you deserve.

Yeah it says under moving Epic Heroes that if you are going to move them to a different formation it has to be at the start of their move. So you wouldn't be able to move the and then jump the Hero to a different formation.