Counterspell

Counterspelling is the means by which a mage can thwart a spell from an enemy caster as it's being cast. It is very similar to a parry, except instead of defending a weapon's attack with another weapon, this is defending a spell with another spell.

Any mage who is targeted by a spell (either directly or in the area of effect) has a chance to counter it. Be careful — a character can either save against the spell or make a counterspell but not both! If a mage is targeted by a support spell (one with no Attack Roll), he can opt to counterspell instead of the save. If a character is subject to an attack spell (one with an Attack Roll using the Magic weapon skill), both the attacker and the defender make Casting Rolls. If the defender fails, he's caught wide-eyed on the Dodge Roll to avoid the spell.

To perform a counterspell, the mage chooses an opposing spell to cast. Spells can be canceled by using either the Nullify Magic spell, or a spell that is opposite to the one being cast. Each spell lists a Counter if it has such an opposite. The mage then makes a Casting Roll opposed by the Casting Roll made by the attacking mage. The spell by which the mage is targeted and the spell used to counter it must be at equal Intensities or the counterspell action fails.

Example Counterspell

Aelfin the evil sorcerer targets Phineas with an Intensity 2 Slow spell.

Aelfin makes a Casting Roll of 19 Phineas casts an Intensity 2 Haste with a Casting Roll of 23.

The spells counteract one another. If he were to have cast Haste at Intensity 1, or failed the Casting Roll, he would be subject to the effects of Slow.