Touch Spells and Abilities

Touch range traditionally meant making physical contact with the intended recipient. However, consent is important, and the following rules clarify how touch effects work without requiring actual contact.

Offensive Touch Spells and Abilities

Offensive touch spells with a range of touch, such as Wounding and Paralysis, are a general exception to the rule that spells occur at the end of the vocals, as follows:

Delivering the effect:

• Offensive touch effects must be delivered with a suitable physrep up to dagger length (e.g. a dagger or wand).
• No physical contact is required or expected.
• As with all weapon attacks, the effect occurs at the moment the caster makes the call. If the physrep misses or is blocked, the effect fails and any associated resources are spent.

Holding the effect:

• Some spells or effects have a hold period. On completing the vocals, the caster may "hold" the effect for up to 15 seconds to get into position.
• If the caster does not deliver the effect within those 15 seconds, the effect is wasted (along with any associated resources).
• If the caster casts any other spell or uses any other skill during this time (e.g. to counter another spell), the held effect is immediately lost and any associated resources are spent.

Non-Damaging Touch Effects

Certain skills allow characters to deliver non-damaging effects through touch (such as Ranger's Mundane Sleep).

• The target must be aware of the character at the moment of delivery. If approaching from behind or out of the target's line of sight, the character must first get the target's attention (e.g. by calling out, or moving into their field of view).
• The character should hold their hand within 6 inches (15cm) of the target and make the call. No physical contact is required or expected; if contact is made, it should only be on the arm.
• If the target moves out of range before the call is made, the effect fails and any associated resources are spent.

Healing and Surgery

• The caster must hover their hand within 6 inches (15cm) of the injured area and chant continuously to administer healing. No physical contact is required or expected.

Hands-On Healing: Curious Pastimes understands that some players feel that a degree of contact enhances their immersion. Provided all participants give their explicit, mutual consent, players may make physical contact during healing or surgery roleplay (e.g. holding a hand on the injured area, or roleplaying bandaging a wound). Consent should be confirmed before contact is made.

Grappling

In most circumstances, real-life grappling, wrestling or manhandling is strictly forbidden at Curious Pastimes events.

To simulate grappling, three characters must place their hands on (or over) a target character's arms or shoulders and declare that they are grappling them. A grappled character must willingly accompany their grapplers where taken, even if asleep or mortally wounded. A conscious character may roleplay ineffectually struggling if appropriate, but may not physically resist in any way.

Special grappling rules apply to characters with the damage call Strength.

Friendly Grappling: Curious Pastimes understands that some players feel that a degree of contact enhances their immersion. Provided all participants give their explicit, mutual consent and no-one else is close enough to be impacted, players may engage in safe, restrained physical grappling. Physical grappling is never permitted in any battle or skirmish, even between consenting participants.

Countering and Resisting

• Touch spells may be countered at any point between the vocals and the call, as well as immediately after the call.
• Mundane touch effects cannot be countered magically, but may be resisted by appropriate defensive abilities (such as Iron Body).

Touch Effects as Weapon

When calling an effect which is usually a touch effect with a weapon (e.g. calling Fumble with a sword blow), the effect's usual range does not apply.

• The effect call only works if the blow lands on its target.
• If the call normally targets a person, parrying the blow prevents the effect.
• If the call normally targets an object, parrying the blow inflicts the effect on the parrying weapon.
• If the call fails (misses or is blocked), any associated resources are still spent.
• Effect calls work even if the damage is stopped by the target's armour.
• An effect given with a touch or weapon attack only affects the target struck, even if the call would normally apply to multiple targets (e.g. Flare).

Special rules apply to poison calls.