Topic: Overcasting Spells

[rustorod]

Hello,
its been awhile since we played RM 2nd edition.  Im having a bit of a hard time figuring out overcasting spell failure.  I have a Magician at 1st level and want to cast Sleep VII (3rd level spell on Spirit Mastery).  Just wondering how to navigate the ESF failure tables.  Any guidance would be appreciated.

Thanks.
Mike

[PiXeL01]

If my understanding is correct then you need two rolls:
1 - ESF (Extraordinary Spell Failure check)
2 - the spell casting roll itself.

I’m basing this on the Red Border Spell Law.
For roll 1:
- compare caster’s level versus the spell’s on table 10.9.2. Since sleep is two levels higher than the caster, the ESF modifier is 25.
- is the caster hurrying the spell casting? Is not then it’s a class III spell meaning there will be two rounds of preparation then cast on round 3. Each round hurried increasing ESF by 25.
- are both hands free?
- is the caster wearing at 5+ armor or a helmet?
- how much and what kind of luggage is the caster carrying around?

You add all those mods together and then must roll higher! In your example I can only assume that the other modifier is spell level, so on the third round the caster must beat 25 on an ESF roll.
Failure means rolling a spell failure with +75

[rustorod]

Thanks for the response that helped my understanding of the ESF rules in Spell Master.  I finally found an example to go with it too.

Mike