Holding The Charge

[Keltorn]

I've noticed that in Forgotten Kingdoms if you miss with a touch spell, you lose the spell entirely. I can't help but wonder why the game was made that way. Why should a mage's spell discharge if he never actually touched anything? In D&D v3.5, one can make multiple attempts to touch a target with the same spell by holding the charge. Here's their rule on it...

Touch Spells and Holding the Charge: In most cases, if you don't discharge a touch spell on the round you cast it, you can hold the charge (postpone the discharge of the spell) indefinitely. You can make touch attacks round after round. If you cast another spell, the touch spell dissipates.
Some touch spells allow you to touch multiple targets as part of the spell. You can't hold the charge of such a spell; you must touch all targets of the spell in the same round that you finish casting the spell.

I know that this game is not identical to D&D, but I wonder if it would be wrong to implement this rule. I feel quite the fool for choosing Shocking Grasp for my wizard when my foes can simply avoid it.

[Selveem]

Well, I know in D&D when you cast a spell without doing so defensively, you run the risk of being struck in melee combat and losing that spell attempt. Here in the MUD, you automatically make a concentration check and receive no attack of opportunity for your offenses.

To be quite honest, I have a wizard with touch attacks. Many of these touch attacks are VERY deadly and can outright kill many of the lesser-hp-wielding characters. If these were not lost by failure to touch, I think this would be too overpowered for this MUD as is.

The way I look at it right now is that my failure to 'touch' with the casting of the spell is the equivelent to failing my concentration check defensively or being struck in the middle of casting and failing that modified concentration check (although the MUD quite obviously does not reflect those).

[Keltorn]

But why shouldn't you be able to cast intelligently? You can fire magic missiles from a different room than your target, but you can't do so with touch spells. Why is that?

[Horace]

Because you have to touch them. Inspector Gadget could do it.

[Glim]

I believe he was saying "You can cast fireball intelligently. So why can't you cast touch spells intelligently?"

*cough*smartass*cough*

Hehe. I think you should be able to hold the charge. It doesn't make sense that you cast a spell on your hand to be discharged when you touch someone, but that if you don't touch someone (ala miss them) then the spell is lost.

Or at least, it might make sense, but you would think wizards can engineer spells a bit better than that. That's what a high intelligence is for!

Feedback is always welcome,

[Horace]

I don't dislike the idea. I'm just curious if it's doable.

[Raona]

It might make sense for some of the power to dissipate over time...e.g., once saves fire up, the save gets easier (or for no-save spells, the hit dice/duration drop) each round the wizard "Holds the charge:" the strength of the effect could control balance re: Selveem's observation.

[Keltorn]

It might make sense for some of the power to dissipate over time...e.g., once saves fire up, the save gets easier (or for no-save spells, the hit dice/duration drop) each round the wizard "Holds the charge:" the strength of the effect could control balance re: Selveem's observation.

Maybe, but I'd settle for just being able to attempt my touch a second time if the first one misses. Maybe if you didn't discharge your spell eventually, it should just disappear. It'd certainly be easier than trying to rig the game to discharge touch spells the next time you touch anything.