# Spell Dueling, Redux [TFT-style]



## RangerWickett (Apr 10, 2003)

Cross-posted in the General RPG Discussion forum.

*Spell Dueling*
*Target Number/DS:*  n/a.
During the classes of wizard schools, in the secluded towers of archmages, and on the field of battle, spellcasters often face off in duels.  In preparation for these inevitable conflicts, magical teachers train their apprentices in the skills necessary for spell duels, and over the centuries have developed a tradition that has spread around the world.  Though the traditions of spell dueling are primarily used now in fields of education or competition, graduates from magical academies sometimes follow the forms their familiar with when they face opposing spellcasters.

Traditionally, you win a duel if you knock your opponent to the ground twice, or if you manage to disrupt three of his spells.  No spells are allowed to be cast before the duel starts, nor are magic items allowed, though this can be hard to enforce without a third party to cast _detect magic_.  Spells cast in the duel can retrieve items, but otherwise duelists must rely on their own magical skills.  Typically, duelists stand thirty feet from the center of a ring that is sixty feet in radius.  Within this area, you can move however you like, but if you leave the ring or are knocked out, you lose.

*Mechanics:*  Existing rules handle most of the details of spell duels.  Spell duels only occur when spellcasters face off in one-on-one combat.  In large melees, the distractions of other combatants make it difficult to devote the proper attention to one’s opponent.  In order to have a spell duel, you must mark your opponent (see the Marking Rules in the Team Games section of Tournaments, Fairs, & Taverns), and thus you suffer the normal penalties against other opponents if you choose to ignore them in this way.  Namely, you are considered flat-footed against the marked target, lose your Dexterity bonus to AC (if any), and cannot make attacks of opportunity except against your mark.  Additionally, you cannot target any actions against anyone other than yourself or your marked opponent.  Unless you succeed a Spellcraft check (DC 15 + spell level), you must target even your area-of-effect spells so that your mark is as close to the center of the area of effect as possible.  Finally, you suffer a –4 penalty to Spot checks not in the same 90-degree line of sight arc as your mark.

*Starting a Duel:* At the start of the duel, each duelist chooses one: a) make a Bluff check, b) make a Sense Motive check, or c) make an Initiative roll.  You may add +4 to your Bluff or Sense Motive check if you have Improved Initiative.  Whoever rolls highest goes first.

*Spellcasting Manuevers:*  To make duels more interesting than simply flinging opposed spells, spell duelists have a few common tricks up their sleeves, primarily revolving around feinting and bluffing.

As a move action, you can make a Bluff check to hide what spell you’re casting that turn, with a penalty equal to the spell’s level.  If your opponent makes a Spellcraft check to determine what spell you’re casting, his check must beat either the normal DC, or the result of your Bluff check, whichever is higher.  If he has 5 or more ranks of Sense Motive, he gets a +2 synergy bonus to his Spellcraft check.

As a move action, you can make a Bluff check to make your opponent think you’re taking your action before you actually cast a spell.  If your opponent fails his Sense Motive check, if he has readied an action to respond when you cast a spell, he takes his readied action during your feint.

As a move action, you may make a Bluff check (DC 25 + spell level of the spell you’re faking) to make the spell you’re casting look like a different spell for the purposes of a Spellcraft check.  If you fail this check by 5 or more, you must make a Concentration check or lose your spell.  If you succeed, though, and your opponent tries to figure out what you’re casting, he resolves his Spellcraft check just as if you were casting a different spell.  If your opponent has 5 or more ranks of Sense Motive, he gets a +2 synergy bonus to this Spellcraft check.

*Common Tactics:*  There are a few common styles of spell dueling, and most mages fall into one of a few categories.  Additionally, a few famous maneuvers have been developed, and most trained spell duelists know to look out for them.

_Common Spellcasting Styles._  The two most straightforward groups of spell duelists are evokers and summoners, who rely on direct spells or summoned monsters to defeat their opponents.  Necromancers are basically a derivation of evokers, relying on damage to stop an opponent, but some do make good use of fear magic to drive off opponents.  Counterspellers are fairly rare, but tend to be tough for low-level mages to overcome.  Brute mages use magic to enhance their own physical abilities, which they then use to beat down their opponent.  Illusionist and enchanters usually have some of the most intriguing duels, having to use trickery or charm to make opponents disqualify themselves.

_The Rantle Check._  The famous spell duelist Diogenes was once nearly thwarted in a spell duel when a friend of his played a prank by discreetly stealing his spell components pouch before the duel.  Forced to rely on only a handful of his prepared spells, Diogenes managed to scrape out a victory with the now-famous Diogenes Maneuver, detailed below.  The ‘Rantle Check’ was the name applied for when spellcasters double-check to make sure they have all their spell components on them before starting a duel.

_The Diogenes Maneuver._  Established in the same duel as above, Diogenes managed to secure his victory with one of the few spells he had available to him, major image, which he used to create an illusion that his opponent turned and fled out of the ring.  The judge ruled Diogenes the winner before anyone realized that it had just been a trick.  Now, the winner of a duel is not officially declared until after any fleeing contestant has been double-checked to see if she’s an illusion.

_Keeper._  Developed by Bron Weissman, one of the first mages to devote his training specifically toward dueling, the Keeper style avoids standard attack spells that one would use against non-wizardly opponents.  Keeper mages, so called because of their penchant of 'keeping' just a few offensive spells in reserve, devoting most of their other spells to answering possible challenges a mage might present.  A standard Keeper mage will have perhaps eight different prepared counterspells, two or three spells to get rid of summoned creatures, various prepared illusions and invisibility spells that can be used as counters, a standard _true seeing_, plus, of course _haste_ and _timestop_, two of the most overpowered spells available.


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