Armor Check Penalty

[Blankbeard]

My point is that ACP affect all physical skills checks and that spell casting has physical elements to it.

An impress check may have physical elements to it, but that doesn't make it a physical skill check.  As GC, you are able to rule that any skill check has enough physical components to warrant the application of ACP.  In Spycraft, there was a precise definition of what a physical skill was,  but that doesn't seem to have been carried into FC, leaving it more of call for the GC.

PG: 112

Spellcasting is an obvious action and clearly visible to anyone
with line of sight to the caster; to conceal an attempt, the caster
must also make a Prestidigitation check opposed by Notice.

The sentence before that reads:

Each caster may make only 1 Spellcasting check per round and he must be able to speak aloud to do so.

Which makes a big difference.  There is no requirement for moving there.  If you so desire, spellcasting may involve only speaking (and a mage's pouch).

The feat Hidden Spells allows you to cast spells without muttering or gesturing.  There is most certainly a physical element to spell casting and it should be affected by ACP.

It depends on how spells are cast in your game.  If they require precise gestures, like the somatic components of D&D, ACP should certainly apply.  On the other hand, if all it requires is pointing, or raising your arms towards the sky, ACP shouldn't apply.

In short, as everyone else says, it's however you want it to be but by default ACP does not apply to spell checks.  Gandalf isn't the only possible model of a spellcaster. 

[Crafty_Alex]

Edit: More interesting to me is that ACP doesn't apply to Blend checks, so no matter the ACP, it doesn't make you easier to track unless you're using Sneak.

I suppose you could use the Disguise modifier in someway for blend.

Disguise: A modifier to Disguise checks targeting the
wearer, whether they’re made to conceal the armor or not (it’s
more difficult to look like someone else, or some specific, when
you’re weighed down with protective gear). ‘Obvious’ means the
wearer can’t be disguised at all.

Disguise is actually a seperate section of the armor tables, and MUCH harsher than ACP. I'd probably end up applying those penalties when the armor is actively out of place (fully armored tank Blending into a group of peasants, for example).

[Grimace]

Edit: More interesting to me is that ACP doesn't apply to Blend checks, so no matter the ACP, it doesn't make you easier to track unless you're using Sneak.

I suppose you could use the Disguise modifier in someway for blend.

Disguise: A modifier to Disguise checks targeting the
wearer, whether they’re made to conceal the armor or not (it’s
more difficult to look like someone else, or some specific, when
you’re weighed down with protective gear). ‘Obvious’ means the
wearer can’t be disguised at all.

Disguise is actually a seperate section of the armor tables, and MUCH harsher than ACP. I'd probably end up applying those penalties when the armor is actively out of place (fully armored tank Blending into a group of peasants, for example).

Yup I noticed that. 

[Grimace]

It depends on how spells are cast in your game.  If they require precise gestures, like the somatic components of D&D, ACP should certainly apply.  On the other hand, if all it requires is pointing, or raising your arms towards the sky, ACP shouldn't apply.

In short, as everyone else says, it's however you want it to be but by default ACP does not apply to spell checks.  Gandalf isn't the only possible model of a spellcaster. 

Yup I think that's where I'm coming from.  I haven't dealt with magic in FC.  So all the old D&D'ism are still strong.

[MilitiaJim]

The feat Hidden Spells allows you to cast spells without muttering or gesturing.  There is most certainly a physical element to spell casting and it should be affected by ACP.

It depends on how spells are cast in your game.  If they require precise gestures, like the somatic components of D&D, ACP should certainly apply.  On the other hand, if all it requires is pointing, or raising your arms towards the sky, ACP shouldn't apply.

There is nothing about the muttering and gesturing of Spellcasting that is fouled by armor.  D&D made claims about the metal fiddling up arcane power flows for balance reasons, but FantasyCraft has eliminated that necessity.

[Blankbeard]

Again, that's the default, but a given GC may change it.  I remember vaguely reading about a magic system where spells were cast through a sort of gymnastic/dance.  If you use something like that, ACP should certainly apply.

[MilitiaJim]

Again, that's the default, but a given GC may change it.  I remember vaguely reading about a magic system where spells were cast through a sort of gymnastic/dance.  If you use something like that, ACP should certainly apply.

If you need to be moving that freely, then a tuxedo will have an ACP.

Come to think of it, is there any evidence that Gandalf did not have a suit of mithril chain under his robe?

[Sletchman]

Come to think of it, is there any evidence that Gandalf did not have a suit of mithril chain under his robe?

To be honest, I always sorta assumed that he did.  After all, Frodo walked around without people noticing his chain shirt until they could see it, why not galdalf?  Plus he seems the type to be sneaking something that valuable around without telling anyone.

[Blankbeard]

Everyone needs to stop thinking about what's under that poor old man's robes.   

[Agent 333]

Well, he had one of the Elven Rings on for the entire trilogy and nobody noticed till waay at the end...

[Mister Andersen]

I dunno, I think he either had it stashed somewhere, or had a final bit of fun adventuring during the year between the end of the War of the Ring and sailing to the Grey Havens where presumably he;d have to go back to being an angel again.

[OverNinja]

In Decipher's Lord of the Rings sourcebooks (Fellowship of the Ring and Two Towers) Gandalf has no armor, carries the ring Narya and the sword Glamdring as both Gandalf the Grey and as Gandalf the White.

In I.C.E. Lords of Middle-Earth Vol.I Gandalf has no armor (Grey's has robes grant AT 12, White's robes grant AT 1), and always has the ring and Glamdring with him.

[Morgenstern]

The physical/mental split between attributes is covered on page 8 and the skill uses inherit those categories. IF you are casting spells with Int as your attribute, then its a mental skill check. Easy-peasy.