Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

[JackO'Diamond]

I'm looking to run 50 Fathoms soon, and one of my players is trying to gen a mage. She's unsure about how the elemental mastery edge works - does it simply allow the character access to another element's spells, which is how I read it, or does it also give other benefits such as new spells and power points - kinda like taking arcane background again - which is how she assumed it worked.

I'm thinking of letting her have access to another elemental list and one spell from the new list, but I'd like a clarification as to how the edge actually works.

[Clint]

You're pretty much correct. The Edge gives the character access to any restricted spells for another element, and it also automatically gives them access to the trappings of that element for any spells they already know.

For instance, a Fire mage takes the Edge to get access to the Water element. He now has access to Healing, Stun, and such which are normally Water-only spells (though he must still get those spells independently somehow via the New Power Edge or a tome). In addition, if the character had any powers that are available to both Fire and Water, he automatically can cast them with either trapping as he chooses. So if he had Elemental Manipulation, he could use either the Fire or Water version, and if he had Summon elemental, he could summon a Fire or Water elemental. His Bolt could be a Fire or Water, Beast Friend could be used on both fire and water-dwelling creatures, and so on...

And while "split" between two elements, the character suffers a -1 to Spellcasting rolls. As the book says, it's a steep cost until you get to archmage.

Hope that clears things up.
_________________
Clint Black
Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager

www.peginc.com