Soul Drink

[Warwolf]

The soul drink attack requires the rune weapon to pierce the flesh of the target (no ranged soul devouring, sorry). The intent to use this ability is declared before the roll to strike is made. At least, that's how I've always handled it.

[Warwolf]

The wielder is essentially given control over the abilities of the weapon after it melds with them. However, the intelligence inside the weapon can refuse to use its abilities at any time it wants to (many evil weapons often do when they have tired of their wielder and wish to move on). I am going off of not only the descriptions of the weapons in Atlantis, but also the few in the Rifters (especially the Zeikhelm), and the bits about the rune mace written in the novels.

[Judas]

We've always played that the attack that hits and draws blood is when the weapon tries to soul drink. You don't have to activate it, it just happens automatically.

Dido!

[Danger]

The weilder is in control of the weapon, so it is their choice whether or not the weapon uses the power, and when it can be used.

The Soul Drinking ability should be stated it is to be used before striking. Once the victim has been struck, the power activates automatically.

[dark brandon]

The weilder is in control of the weapon, so it is their choice whether or not the weapon uses the power, and when it can be used.

The Soul Drinking ability should be stated it is to be used before striking. Once the victim has been struck, the power activates automatically.

yes, this is how we play it. Call that you are attempting to soul drink the creature.

[Dr. Doom III]

You can use it whenever you wish. It is not automatic. You must draw blood and a failed attempt does triple damage.

It would be pretty stupid to be going after some ultra powerful menace and run into a few orcs before the final showdown and use up all your Soul Drinking attacks that day on them.

[Danger]

You can use it whenever you wish. It is not automatic. You must draw blood and a failed attempt does triple damage.

It would be pretty stupid to be going after some ultra powerful menace and run into a few orcs before the final showdown and use up all your Soul Drinking attacks that day on them.

Yes, but I've seen people waste all of their Soul Drinking attacks in that manner.

[Nekira Sudacne]

It says plainly under the discription that it must cut and draw blood in order for it to work.....

so where's teh confusion?

[cornholioprime]

It says plainly under the discription that it must cut and draw blood in order for it to work.....

so where's teh confusion?

For the record, I'm not so sure that by "draw blood," the Authors literally meant making the other guy bleed, but rather, that you must strike the other Character directly in Physical Combat, presumably with Weapon directy to Skin (read: NOT through Armor or Prrotective Shielding), rather than try an attempt from X feet away. Could you imagine Soul Drinking Artillery?!?!?

I personally find it rather hard to believe that if you are a Creature that does NOT have Blood in your Veins, then you AUTOMATICALLY become completely and eternally immune to Soul Drinking.

This seems to be bolstered by the fact that an OFFICIAL Answer to such a Question was answered by the Response (paraphrasing), "If you're not COMPLETELY artificial Construct, and you're NOT an Old One, then you too can become the Victim of a Soul Drinking Attack, whatever you are."

Any thoughts, any one???

[Nekira Sudacne]

It says plainly under the discription that it must cut and draw blood in order for it to work.....

so where's teh confusion?

For the record, I'm not so sure that by "draw blood," the Authors literally meant making the other guy bleed, but rather, that you must strike the other Character directly in Physical Combat, presumably with Weapon directy to Skin (read: NOT through Armor or Prrotective Shielding), rather than try an attempt from X feet away. Could you imagine Soul Drinking Artillery?!?!?

I personally find it rather hard to believe that if you are a Creature that does NOT have Blood in your Veins, then you AUTOMATICALLY become completely and eternally immune to Soul Drinking.

why not? Rune Magic has it's requirements and limits like anything else.

This seems to be bolstered by the fact that an OFFICIAL Answer to such a Question was answered by the Response (paraphrasing), "If you're not COMPLETELY artificial Construct, and you're NOT an Old One, then you too can become the Victim of a Soul Drinking Attack, whatever you are."

Any thoughts, any one???

offical where?

[cornholioprime]

offical where?

Old F.A.Q. As I have stated elsewhere, the old FAQ was often wrong, but in this particular case, they provided for the rest of us an "official" Ruling unavailable anywhere else.

For the record, THAT particular Answer had ALL sorts of Soul-Drink susceptible Creatures in a very extensive List, both with Blood and without.

Of course, they also reiterated that the Creatures' natural Bonuses to save vs Magic would apply in each case.....

[Nekira Sudacne]

offical where?

Old F.A.Q. As I have stated elsewhere, the old FAQ was often wrong, but in this particular case, they provided for the rest of us an "official" Ruling unavailable anywhere else.

For the record, THAT particular Answer had ALL sorts of Soul-Drink susceptible Creatures in a very extensive List, both with Blood and without.

Of course, they also reiterated that the Creatures' natural Bonuses to save vs Magic would apply in each case.....

except not one answer in the old faq is or ever was offical. that's why they were all scrapped.

[cornholioprime]

offical where?

Old F.A.Q. As I have stated elsewhere, the old FAQ was often wrong, but in this particular case, they provided for the rest of us an "official" Ruling unavailable anywhere else.

For the record, THAT particular Answer had ALL sorts of Soul-Drink susceptible Creatures in a very extensive List, both with Blood and without.

Of course, they also reiterated that the Creatures' natural Bonuses to save vs Magic would apply in each case.....

except not one answer in the old faq is or ever was offical. that's why they were all scrapped.

Incorrect. The Statements in the very Preface to the Old F.A.Q. says otherwise.

Don't take my word for it; read the Intro to the Old F.A.Q. for yourself......

[cornholioprime]

Thanks for going off on a tangent...Now can someone look back at the original post and just answer my freakin' question! He drew blood and the sword asked the wielder if it should drink the soul...then the wielder got knocked back by a TK push. He is several yards away now. There is still blood on the sword. The wielder intended to have the sword drink the soul when he struck on his last attack. But after being knocked back can he still do it since he is far away or does the sword have to be touching the victim?

First.......CALM DOWN, sonny.

Second....there's NO WAY for the Character to "escape" the Soul Drinking Attack apart from sucessfully saving; a Magic Attack of this kind allows NO OPPORTUNITY WHATSOEVER to counterattack or parry it, ONLY save. The fact that he's a few feet away by the time the Attack comes into play has NO bearing on the effect itself.

By the way, isn't a Soul Drinking Attack INSTANT, anyways??? Exactly HOW did this guy manage to get in a TK Counterattack if you sucessfully drew Blood AND ANNOUNCED BEFOREHAND THAT THIS WAS INDEED A SOUL-DRINK ATTACK???? (Tell usif you did something different.)

Whoever thought that they could "elude" a Magick of this kind might as well forget it. If need be, show them SPECIFIC Spells, like Dragon Fire (Rifts: Book of Magic) that allow a Dodge to either avoid the Damage outright OR to only take 1/2 Damage; then point out to them the fact that Soul Drinking (Rifts: Atlantis) allows NO such provision.

It'd be like a Juicer trying to counter a Psychic Attack with a Physical Auto-Dodge, or something equally silly...........

[dark brandon]

Thanks for going off on a tangent...Now can someone look back at the original post and just answer my freakin' question! He drew blood and the sword asked the wielder if it should drink the soul...then the wielder got knocked back by a TK push. He is several yards away now. There is still blood on the sword. The wielder intended to have the sword drink the soul when he struck on his last attack. But after being knocked back can he still do it since he is far away or does the sword have to be touching the victim?

Um....i'm gonna go with No.

Before he swings his sword, (Before you roll to strike), you call you wanna drink the soul, kinda like wanting to do a deathblow. Roll to strike, they then have to roll to save vs. magic at 14. Failure means soul is lost, they die then and there. Save, and they take tripple damage. Even if the sword hit him before, the sword will have to strike again to do the soul suck.

[Dr. Doom III]

Thanks for going off on a tangent...Now can someone look back at the original post and just answer my freakin' question! He drew blood and the sword asked the wielder if it should drink the soul...then the wielder got knocked back by a TK push. He is several yards away now. There is still blood on the sword. The wielder intended to have the sword drink the soul when he struck on his last attack. But after being knocked back can he still do it since he is far away or does the sword have to be touching the victim?

Soul drinking is instant.
If he wanted to try a soul drinking attack it would happen then if he didn't then he has to stab him again.

[dark brandon]

Okay, here's a question about this as I'm a player in the situation. The sword drew blood and then telepathically asked the wielder if he wanted it to drink the soul. This was a feature that was not known at the time as stats for the sword haven't been given yet. The character then replied immediately to the sword telling it to drink the soul. How would you all play out that situation considering the fact that it does not state in the book that a soul drink attempt has to be declared before the strike?

Meaning, does the soul drink have to wait until the next melee round or could it still be instant, and if it does have to wait until the next melee round could it be treated as if he saved vs. the soul drink but still takes triple damamge?

It would have to wait till your next attack (Not nessissarilly melee round), declare you want the sword to soul drink. As for your second question, no, he does not take triple damage.

[Scooter the Outlaw]

Actually, I have a question. How does Soul Drinking actually work? I don't really understand it as written in the Atlantis book, and the description is vauge.

When you swing the sword, can you just Soul Drink as long as the target bleeds?
If you successfully Soul Drink (failed save vs magic by the target), does the victim instantly die?
Can you ALWAYS Soul Drink? If so, why bother ever using the normal attack?

If anybody can clear up Soul Drinking in general, that would be awesome.

[Dr. Doom III]

Actually, I have a question. How does Soul Drinking actually work? I don't really understand it as written in the Atlantis book, and the description is vauge.

When you swing the sword, can you just Soul Drink as long as the target bleeds?

You basically have to hurt them with the weapon. Damaging their armor wont cut it.

If you successfully Soul Drink (failed save vs magic by the target), does the victim instantly die?

Yes and cannot be resurected.

Can you ALWAYS Soul Drink? If so, why bother ever using the normal attack?

If anybody can clear up Soul Drinking in general, that would be awesome.

No. All Soul Drinkers are limited to a number of Soul Drinking attacks per day. Usually around 1 to 3. A failed attempt is still an attempt and it uses up one try.

[Scooter the Outlaw]

Awesome. Thanks. Where does it normally list the number of times a Rune weapon can Soul Drink per day? I haven't noticed that limitation before. For example, how many times can an Impaler Soul Drink per day?

Wow... now I can see why some of these rune weapons are so feared. That's an unbelievably powerful ability.

[Dr. Doom III]

Awesome. Thanks. Where does it normally list the number of times a Rune weapon can Soul Drink per day? I haven't noticed that limitation before. For example, how many times can an Impaler Soul Drink per day?

Wow... now I can see why some of these rune weapons are so feared. That's an unbelievably powerful ability.

It says it under Soul Drinker in the BoM and Atlantis.
Actually it's 1D6 souls per day.
I consider that attempts not successful attacks and determine the number per day once for the weapon not a random number every day.

[Nekira Sudacne]

No. All Soul Drinkers are limited to a number of Soul Drinking attacks per day. Usually around 1 to 3. A failed attempt is still an attempt and it uses up one try.

except that is no limit on the number of trys. mearly the number of sucesses.

[dark brandon]

No. All Soul Drinkers are limited to a number of Soul Drinking attacks per day. Usually around 1 to 3. A failed attempt is still an attempt and it uses up one try.

except that is no limit on the number of trys. mearly the number of sucesses.

True, but I still count an attempt as a use. Concidering even if you save a soul drink attack you still take x3 damage.

[Nekira Sudacne]

No. All Soul Drinkers are limited to a number of Soul Drinking attacks per day. Usually around 1 to 3. A failed attempt is still an attempt and it uses up one try.

except that is no limit on the number of trys. mearly the number of sucesses.

True, but I still count an attempt as a use. Concidering even if you save a soul drink attack you still take x3 damage.

it says "the limit of number of souls it can drink per day". that's clearly not a "use". that's a "drink".

[Dr. Doom III]

it says "the limit of number of souls it can drink per day". that's clearly not a "use". that's a "drink".

Just more poor wording on Palladium's part.

[Nekira Sudacne]

it says "the limit of number of souls it can drink per day". that's clearly not a "use". that's a "drink".

Just more poor wording on Palladium's part.

no, I think it was INTENDED for you to just keep trying until you get the max number of souls per day.

no reason to think otherwise

[Dr. Doom III]

no, I think it was INTENDED for you to just keep trying until you get the max number of souls per day.

no reason to think otherwise

But I'm Doom and you're not.

Therefore what I think matters more.

[Nekira Sudacne]

no, I think it was INTENDED for you to just keep trying until you get the max number of souls per day.

no reason to think otherwise

But I'm Doom and you're not.

Therefore what I think matters more.

when you have to resort to reputation to win, you've lost the arguement.

[Scooter the Outlaw]

If you could make an unlimited number of attempts per day, why would you ever use the normal attack? I understand it doesn't affect body armor and robots, etc., but I'm just generally speaking. There would be no point in using the normal strike, even once you had enough Souls in a day, because you'd still inflict three times the normal damage.

[Nekira Sudacne]

If you could make an unlimited number of attempts per day, why would you ever use the normal attack? I understand it doesn't affect body armor and robots, etc., but I'm just generally speaking. There would be no point in using the normal strike, even once you had enough Souls in a day, because you'd still inflict three times the normal damage.

maybe you don't want to steal a person's SOUL rather than just kill them?

think about it for a second.....

[Jesterzzn]

no, I think it was INTENDED for you to just keep trying until you get the max number of souls per day.

no reason to think otherwise

But I'm Doom and you're not.

Therefore what I think matters more.

I knew one day he would crack!

[Axelmania]

The weilder is in control of the weapon, so it is their choice whether or not the weapon uses the power, and when it can be used.
The Soul Drinking ability should be stated it is to be used before striking.

You can use it whenever you wish.
It is not automatic.
It would be pretty stupid to be going after some ultra powerful menace and run into a few orcs before the final showdown and use up all your Soul Drinking attacks that day on them.

It would have to wait till your next attack (Not nessissarilly melee round), declare you want the sword to soul drink.

I realize this thread is pretty old, but for the benefit of anyone else who digs up these old conversations, I figure it would be useful to cite the errata regarding control over this, number 94 at https://www.palladiumbooks.com/index.ph ... Itemid=200

"if a bonded person gets stabbed by their own sword should they immune to the soul drinking or did we do the right thing by rolling a save."
"They would have to roll to save, after all, a soul is a soul"

This appears to imply that it does not require conscious intent of the wielder to do soul-drinking, because if that were the case you'd never have to worry about making a save when accidentally self-stabbing.

It's too bad there don't actually seem to be rules on accidental self-stabs in Palladium, I know that can happen in GURPS on a critical miss, does anyone know any situations in Palladium which result in accidentally hitting different targets than intended instead of a hit/miss?

To avoid the "filling up on goblins" problem you could perhaps use a backup weapon to kill them and limit your rune weapon to stuff like disarming/parrying or depleting SDC of armor.

Another option might be to cast protective spells on your enemies to give them a bonus to save vs magic, that way they won't get sucked up and instead take the double damage.

It says it under Soul Drinker in the BoM and Atlantis.
Actually it's 1D6 souls per day.
I consider that attempts not successful attacks

That certainly curbs the impact, I guess "Most Soul Drinkers are limited to a maximum of 1D6 souls per day" is worded vaguely enough it could mean either "souls attacked" or "souls defeated".

We do see "Note: The power of Soul Drink is limited to six times per day." for the Soul Slayer in Armageddon Unlimited (pg 56-57) but I guess that could be an exception to the "most" rather than the max roll on the 1d6 usual.

Though impact-curbing is less necessary in the RUE era of minion war where it seems like souldrink weapons are retconned to work like that new Greater Demon in the Dimension Book about Hades.

and determine the number per day once for the weapon not a random number every day.

If it was "once per weapon" then I would expect to see this number listed for specifically identified soul-drinking weapons such as the ones owned by gods in Pantheons of the Megaverse.
Given that this isn't mentioned anywhere it makes me think it's a "per day" reroll.

[Mack]

16 years. Seriously. This discussion ended 16 years ago.

This is why we have rules about necro-posting.