Re: [DL] Favors and hexes [GOFF]

[John Goff <johngoff@erols.com>]

Vincent wrote:

> A problem came up yesterday during a game.
>
> I was playing a Buffalo shaman spying on a group of gamblers and hucksters, and
> used the "call wealth" favor with lots of appeasement, getting a gambling skill
> of (about) 14d6.
>
> Later, as I was again in a poker game, one of the posse hucksters, impressed by
> the number of dice rolled, decided to cast a mind twist, increasing the smarts
> from d6 to d12+2, and a gambling skill of (this time) 11d12+2.
>
> As the favor is granted by spirits, and the mind twist is made by the manitou,
> we thought there was something wrong, and decided there was need for more
> appeasement than usual, as for an harrowed shaman asking a favor from spirits.
>
> What would be your point of view? Any reason why this should not work?

Okay...

Purely by the rules, it works fine, but I can certainly see where, thematically, you'd want to address
it.

Here's my take: In a case like that it would depend entirely on the sequence in which the favor and
hex were cast. Favor first, no problem--the spirit doesn't sense any taint of a manitou, and the
manitou is being forced into performing the hex anyway so it doesn't really have any choice. Hex
first, increase the appeasement cost by 1 point like you suggested.

As to game balance, I don't think it's a problem. Spell interaction is one of my favorite things in
RPGs with magic systems; I love to see combination castings, both as a player and a marshal. Also, it
gives a reason for more "teamwork"-oriented activity--something often lacking in posses.

John Goff