The Magic of Forgotten Realms versus Forgotten Kingdoms

[Selveem]

In hard-code DnD, to my knowledge, any lethal magic cannot be made non-lethal. However, in Forgotten Kingdoms, all spells can be treated as such with the use of killmode stun or killmode spar. While I understand the reasoning for this in terms of game mechanics and player friendliness, should these types of spells be considered possibly non-lethal? Things such as chain lightning, magic missile, fireball and the like don't really have a way to modify them naturally (except without taking a feat to change the descriptor?). Should these really be considered as possibly non-lethal spells when realistically one has no control over the potency of the magic they have wrought against their opponent? One could argue that a lightning bolt was cast at the foot of their opponent, but even still the damage could be enough to bring the heart to immediately give.

I am just curious as to how magic works in FK as opposed to FR.

[Amalia]

I believe I've seen notices before that one should not use save vs. death spells in a nonlethal player kill, before the saves went wonky and it was stated that such spells shouldn't be used in PK at all.

[Selveem]

I thank you for your response, Amalia, however that is not what I was talking about.

Just because a spell is not designed for instant-kill, does not mean they are not capable of it. For instance, a level 1 mage would not survive the cast of a spell such as fireball upon them.

Likewise, higher level characters lowered to near-death with no resistances/immunities to fire would meet a similar fate.

That is what I am speaking of.

[Jaenoic]

In such cases, it is my strong belief that OOC friendliness wins out over IC realism. I'm not one for sticking to things being realistic; it's a fantasy game. P&P might have lethal spells, but in P&P you generally don't have PvP situations like you do on Muds.

I don't mind making these spells non-lethal, if it means saving the complaints box from a few letters. In my opinion, PvPs should very, very, very rarely end with the death of a player.

[Tavik]

The way I've always veiwed spell casting here is that one should be permitted to use a spell to a lesser extent than is coded, but never to a greater (With the exception of feats taken). My reasoning here is that because all spells are a result of the manipulation of the weave to attain a desired result, why should it not be possible to manipulate the weave in a slightly different way that attains the same result, but with some of the power behind it bled off? Basically, as you skill up, you make the spell more and more powerful. You should be able to recall what you were doing before that made it weaker. Why couldn't I make this arguement to make it stronger? Well, if it could be made stronger, then the assuption would be that the researching wizard would have found a method to make it stronger and thus would have taught it to others as such. In other words, the spells you cast are already as strong as you can get them (Barring skilling up and feats).

On an OOC note, I do agree with Jaenoic in that sometimes you just have to ignore some realism (We are talking about magic here) in order to keep things fun. If you make it impossible for wizards to cast in a non-lethal manner you eliminate sparring and spell duels for wizards.