Hi all.
Just two brief forewords.
First one. I've managed to play a campaign only once with MERP in my youth. After my group of friends dissolved for reasons that are not of interest here, I managed to play RM with 1st Ed. rules, 2nd Ed. rules, RMSS, always as the GM and more often than not starting over with new characters and new players. So, even after all of these years, I've not accrued any true confidence with high level characters in general and magic users in particular. My question then is really as by a newbie of the game.
Second one. I consider Mentalism Companion one of the best books I've ever read (I mean book in the broadest meaning). Indeed it contains rules for playing travels in the dream world but just reading it it's a travel in the dream world by itself. Everything in that book in my opinion is great to be inspired by. But all of the pages regarding the use of divination spells and skills and the ways to oppose to those spells and skills have completely changed the way I consider a world of fantasy. After reading those pages I've not been able anymore to consider any setting without a concern for the presence of Seers and their abilities and for the ways the world around them has developed to balance their abilities (just to name one trivial thing: talismans to be used to "cover" meetings that have to be kept reserved).
Ok, now the question.
I feel I'm missing something in the way RM (at least before RMU) seems to work regarding countering magic. The main point is that everything seems to me intimately based on declaring actions and things beforehand. Just to give one example, the various Cancel spells are not instants and work by concentrating: the spell user is waiting for something to happen. Even an instantaneous spell has to be declared at the beginning of a round (at least in RMSS). And casting a spell after canceling your actions (in RMSS) is not among the allowed alternatives. Often you need to know the realm of the incoming target spell. But, again, the rules do not allow to cast more than one spell in a round, even if instant: so, if you need to cast a spell to identify an incoming spell, you cannot cast a subsequent spell to protect you from it.
So my question is: in your campaigns and adventures, with the old Spell Law and companions (in Essence Companion there are other spells aimed to defend against spells), how do you handle protecting from magic? Why (by which means - spells, items, skills) a powerful spell user is truly "powerful"? How a "powerful" spell user can have an edge above less powered magic using adversaries? Is it just a matter of higher level (RR's)? Is it a matter of putting up beforehand well prepared defenses? If it's the case, which ones?
I do not expect a companion-long answer (as the wonderful treaty is in the Mentalism Companion, I mean) just some hints: we use the spells X and Y this way, that way. If anyone would like to share with me his/her ideas, maybe I could work on it and give back some results.
Any ideas?
Thank you anyway for having read these lines.
Ciao
Alessandro