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Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:54 am
by Nate Finch
(sorry, this has probably been answered, but search is hard)
Under Characters->Wizard, it says "A wizard’s spell check is usually 1d20 + Intelligence modifier + caster level."
Under Magic->Spellcasting it says "When your character casts a spell, you roll 1d20 and add your caster level, and apply your luck modifier. This is
called a spell check. You also add your Personality modifier if you are a cleric or your Intelligence modifier if you are a wizard."
So which is it? Do you add your luck or not
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:19 pm
by GnomeBoy
Weird. That's been added in later printings...
I was going off my softcover, which is basically the 5th Printing and it doesn't have that phrase about Luck Modifier. Checking my 1st Printing, it doesn't have it either.
My 7th Printing does have it. Not sure where it crept in, between those two...
But my advice is, go with the version that appeals to you more and suits your style of play better. Either way, you're not going to break the game.
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2020 12:33 pm
by Nate Finch
YEah, this is the PDF I got from goodman games' website when I bought print + pdf. The filename includes "7th printing" the back cover sys 7th printing, but the credits page say 5th printing. Same contents all around are in the physical book I have. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
I don't think luck should apply to the casting roll, any more than luck applies to attack rolls. They serve similar functions, and adding luck to casting rolls would just make luck too good for spellcasters, IMO. (this coming from a newbie who hasn't actually played yet, but I have a lot of other RPG experience).
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2020 5:10 pm
by Vort
I had always thought Luck didn't apply to spellcasting, as spellcasters already have Spellburn, but then I played in a few games run by Goodman Judges and they allowed Luck for spellchecks. I thought I had read somewhere that it was a typo but can't find it. Maybe check the errata? Is there an errata?
And, not sure what you mean by "any more than luck applies to attack rolls". Luck
definitely applies to attack rolls, so I guess in that vein it should apply to spellchecks as well, so every class can use Luck with their primary abilities.
But I agree with GnomeBoy, do what works for you. In one game I had allowed players to burn Luck to bolster their AC; it made them harder to hit but didn't break the game. I don't allow that anymore but now I do everything I can to get players to burn Luck before they really need it.
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2020 6:29 pm
by GnomeBoy
Vort wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 5:10 pm
I had always thought Luck didn't apply to spellcasting, as spellcasters already have Spellburn, but then I played in a few games run by Goodman Judges and they allowed Luck for spellchecks. I thought I had read somewhere that it was a typo but can't find it. Maybe check the errata? Is there an errata?
And, not sure what you mean by "any more than luck applies to attack rolls". Luck
definitely applies to attack rolls, so I guess in that vein it should apply to spellchecks as well, so every class can use Luck with their primary abilities.
But I agree with GnomeBoy, do what works for you. In one game I had allowed players to burn Luck to bolster their AC; it made them harder to hit but didn't break the game. I don't allow that anymore but now I do everything I can to get players to burn Luck before they really need it.
Luck Burn is for boosting any roll you make, attacks, spellchecks, damage rolls, saves...
He just means you don't add your
Luck Mod to your attack rolls, so don't add them to spellchecks...
Adding a Luck Mod to a spellcheck would only be good if they have a positive Modifier. Some of the time, they should have a zero, and sometimes a negative modifier. If they hang onto their Luck, then they are nerfing themselves elsewhere, and getting a tiny boost off of that to spellchecks is fine, but not something I'll be adding into the game in the foreseeable future.
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2020 6:31 pm
by GnomeBoy
Additional thought: adding the Luck Mod to spellchecks would be cool under specific circumstances, e.g., Elfland is closer to the beating heart of reality than the mortal realm is, so your Luck Mod applies to spellchecks when you're there.
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:56 am
by Jim Skach
This has been going around since someone found it in the 7th printing*. It does not exist in previous printings. It has been brought up so many times I actually wrote up a response and saved it...
What it boils down to is that if you look at the Cleric and the Wizard you can see that this is a horribly worded way of saying that you can add Luck to the spell check after you've rolled. Luck is called out in several very specific cases - none of which include the Spell Check.
* And now that I look at the 7th printing pdf I have, it is worded like previous printings. Interesting.
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2020 6:50 am
by GnomeBoy
Good call, Mr Skach!
"modifier" and "Modifier" are different things...
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2020 8:18 am
by Vort
GnomeBoy wrote: ↑Wed Apr 29, 2020 6:29 pm
He just means you don't add your
Luck Mod to your attack rolls, so don't add them to spellchecks...
Ach, my bad. I misread it as being about Luck burn, not the Luck mod. I haven't been adding Luck mod to anything except tables where specified (fumble, mercurial magic, etc.).
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:14 pm
by Pesky
@Nate Finch, as @Jim Skach says, there’s a bit of a history to that contradiction being put in. It originated from confusion in earlier editions over whether clerics added their Luck modifier only to their turn unholy checks, which are also called spell checks. Here is a response I made about it some time ago:
https://goodman-games.com/forums/viewto ... 75#p122256
I urge you to Fear No Rule and follow your gut. If you and your players are having fun, then you’re right! My own opinion, FWIW, is that a PC’s Luck mod is not added to a spell check for casting a spell unless it’s an elf’s chosen lucky spell or the PC has the Seventh Son birth auger. Hope that helps.
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Fri May 01, 2020 10:39 am
by Jim Skach
Pesky wrote: ↑Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:14 pm
@Nate Finch, as @Jim Skach says, there’s a bit of a history to that contradiction being put in. It originated from confusion in earlier editions over whether clerics added their Luck modifier only to their turn unholy checks, which are also called spell checks. Here is a response I made about it some time ago:
https://goodman-games.com/forums/viewto ... 75#p122256
I urge you to Fear No Rule and follow your gut. If you and your players are having fun, then you’re right! My own opinion, FWIW, is that a PC’s Luck mod is not added to a spell check for casting a spell unless it’s an elf’s chosen lucky spell or the PC has the Seventh Son birth auger. Hope that helps.
Yeah...what he said...
Re: Do you add luck to spellcasting?
Posted: Fri Aug 14, 2020 5:26 am
by jblittlefield
Nate Finch wrote: ↑Tue Apr 28, 2020 5:54 am
(sorry, this has probably been answered, but search is hard)
Under Characters->Wizard, it says "A wizard’s spell check is usually 1d20 + Intelligence modifier + caster level."
Under Magic->Spellcasting it says "When your character casts a spell, you roll 1d20 and add your caster level, and apply your luck modifier. This is
called a spell check. You also add your Personality modifier if you are a cleric or your Intelligence modifier if you are a wizard."
So which is it? Do you add your luck or not
I'm going with no Luck modifier on spell checks to cast spells - that wording in the Magic section is still present in the 8th printing. I don't see it anywhere else, and in the Wizard class description (as in all class descriptions for that matter) how the Luck modifier is used is spelled out explicitly. I'm rolling on and assuming that mention of it in the Magic section was a typo.