Prismatic Spray

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This spells kicks ass.

What I want to know is the probability of an opponent getting hit by two rays, instead of one? I used to use this spell a lot, and I noticed I hit with two rays quite often (eg. they were petrified, then shattered by a 40dmg ray). But spell editors don't really indicate any 'double hits'. I wonder if it is hardcoded?

 

Hmm, I would imagine that it´s a roll of the dice (meaning pure luck) whether or not you hit an opponent with 2 rays. I never use that spell, so I´d say you can probably hit an opponent twice depending on range or something.

By the way, on a RPG forum you don´t say "This spells kicks ass." You´re supposed to say it all Korgan style: "This spells kicks arse."

 

Simple. You roll 1d8, 1 to 7 are the regular effects, 8 means the victim is struck by two rays and you roll twice again, this time ignoring any result of 8.

So the probability of an opponent getting hit by two rays is 1 out of 8. Hope this helps. Prismatic Spray is a nice spell but I prefer a more direct, offensive approach such as Finger of Death or Delayed Blast Fireball.

 

Ooh, thanks for that. I always wondered how the double strike for Prismatic Spray worked. One in eight isn't bad.

 

gee ive never had this happen before - having said that I've only used the spell a handfull of times - mainly because of the random nature of it.

 

Oh, silver is that how it works? I always thought it was just like a random thing (because I remember seeing someone hit with like 4 rays lol), I didn't know there was an actual dice roll for it? Does that mean the effects are randomised or..

I always use it because it looks so crazy, all those colourful balls flying around =P

 

Silvershield, the whole point of dice rolls is to give a random result!

Well, each effect will have a number assigned to it and if that number should come up, then that is the effect that occurs.

 

Lol Decados, what I meant was, does the visual effect have anything to do with the spell as in, could someone run through the entire spell and be hit by a few rays?

Or was the effect determined ENTIRELY by a dice roll - anyone caught in the area of effect in the spell would just have to make a dice roll, with the numbers determining the effects whilst one of the numbers on the die determining you could get hit by another ray (and thus a roll again to decide the effect).

 

I really do not think it is the visual effect which determines the colors or random of hits the victim suffers. It must be a dice roll, otherwise it would be really difficult to code it in to the game engine. As long as you are caught in the area of effect of the spray, you are affected and are forced to roll a 1d8 to determine the hits. Plus, that is exactly how it works in P&P. Colorful orbs you see flying around is just for the visual effects. Which I agree that they look cool.

 

Because of the engine, all effects are determined by a d100 roll. The projectile matters only if you are hit or not hit by it.

01-14: red
12-29: orange
27-44: yellow
42-59: green
57-73: blue
71-87: indigo
85-100: violet

Note the ranges overlap, so a roll of 12, 13 or 14 gets you hit by the red and orange rays.

 

So an 18% chance of getting hit by two rays. Interesting.

 

And that's the word of an expert. Thanks CamDawg, I had no idea it worked that way. Much interesting, this spell actuall is more powerful than I thought, the chance of being hit by two rays is not negligible.

 

Heh, no, that's the word of someone with an editor to look at the nuts and the bolts of the spell.

 

Wow and here I was thinking that it was something to do with the actual rays physically lol.. Thanks for clearing that up Cam =)

Btw, I'm guessin most spells similiar to that are calculated in a manner sorta like that?

 

Yes. Projectiles only matter in that they determine who gets affected by a spell. The engine doesn't determine where in the projectile you are, only whether you're in the area of effect. Modders could potentially do something funky with overlapping projectiles via multiple spells (i.e. you could make fireball use overlapping projectiles so that victims near the center get more damage), but none of the default spells work this way.

 

interesting, but i'msure i've had characters run through prismatic spray and been hit by more than 2, possibly all. of course i spend all of time killing offf my own party; mainly due to a lack of battle tactics when i become... less inclined to finish the game