An issue came up in game as to the duration of the Grim Backguard (Good) Enchantment. I am not sure if this description is verbatim in the latest print of the rules but this is how it appears in what I have in front of me:

Grim Backguard: Good Power.
A preternatural Power that causes a misty force to appear directly behind the enchanter. It is his height and width and absorbs all harm coming from behind up to that equal to twice the enchanter’s own health before being destroyed. Furthermore, if anything approaches to within a three-foot range of the activator’s back, the force will scythe forth a blade-like spurt of energy inflicting very strong (21-25) harm that ignores all armor, even supernatural sorts.

For damage absorption purposes, the duration is explicit. It "absorbs all harm coming from behind up to that equal to twice the enchanter’s own health before being destroyed." Because the last sentence starts with "Furthermore", I read that to mean "in addition". So I believe this Enchantment absorbs damage equal to the enchanter's health x2. IN ADDITION, anything approaching within three feet of the caster's flank gets zapped. To me, the duration doesn't end or decrease based on the offensive capabilities of this activation. However, a dissenting opinion ruled that the activation is dissipated upon the first use of the offensive part of Grim Backguard.

My question is how would you deal with the duration of this activation? For anyone who agrees that Grim Backguard would immediately end when someone is zapped, what level of power (very minimal through extreme) would a defensive only "Happy Backguard" activation occupy? I.e. no damage dealt to those within 3' of caster's back. Since it only absorbs damage and would explicitly remain in effect until the enchanter takes a cumulative total equal to 2x Health originating from his back, would such an activation have a degree of power lower, equal to or higher than the current level of Grim Backguard?

I just want to state where I'm coming from on this one, but I want to hear other's opinions too.


Agree on the damage point, it'll absorb up to twice your health before expiring. (It seems to me that some sort of finite duration is required for all activations, lest they continue to operate for months on end...but that's another discussion.)

With regards to the scythe aspect, the concern is game balance. it seems like an additional function that is triggered once, when someone approaches behind you. Considering that it doesn't require a hit roll, I can't accept a situation where one or more would-be assailants are automatically struck each ABC for that kind of supernatural damage, apparently indefinitely. (Otherwise, you may as well wander backwards through an entire dungeon...) It's just too powerful, even for an Extreme grade.


Not significantly less, in my opinion. Perhaps as low as Moderate, but probably still Good. That's an incredible shield, to absorb any and all damage albeit from a particular direction. The scythe part is really just an added perk.

It is hard for me to call the scythe an "added perk" if it causes the activation to immediately expire.

Maybe have the scythe portion hit the FIRST creature approaching the flank? Or reduce the amount of damage the enchantment absorbs by the damage dealt with the scythe? Both of these are far away from the rules as written but might restore game balance.

Like Deimos, I would welcome other opinions on Grim Backguard, especially as written and whether you think it needs tweaks.

The spell lasts until destroyed. It mentions nothing about the additional effect in anyway removing the activation. Therefore, there is no reason to conclude that the activation would be removed.

As for the balancing part of the spell - this only applies to behind. Therefore, frontal attacks are fine. It would be impossible to adventure walking backward the entire time and even if you did, someone would just some around the other way. There is also missile fire and spells.

Without any further evidence to the contrary - I agree with Darius. I'm not plowing through Lejends to see if this was talked about right now - but that might be a source of information...

Chris Clark might also have a perspective on it and/or Jon Creffield.

Ultimately - it does what your LM says it does, but I personally would currently play it as Darius suggested.

Thanks for the input, guys. As usual, the details in LA activations are sparse and I'm forced to come up with something. The issue for me remains game balance.

I'm comparing the shielding benefits of Grim Backguard to another similar activation, the Extreme grade Personal Shielding 5. I've deliberately chosen the most powerful of the Personal Armor/Shielding activations because the basic protection provided is most similar to that of Grim Backguard. Both protect against large quantities of Harm, regardless of type. Onto the differences.

• PS5 absorbs but 20 Harm per attack*, whereas GB absorbs any amount. The balance here is that GB is directional, so they're about equal strength in my opinion, so far.
• PS5 can absorb much more total Harm than GB before being destroyed -- but it probably should, as it's an Extreme vs. a Good activation. Still no worries, that seems fair.
• PS5 has a finite duration; GB as written does not. Point goes to GB.
• PS5 has no other benefits that I can recall. GB also has a fairly significant attack form. Point goes to GB.

*None of that "percentage" nonsense in my campaigns. YMMV.

Now, that might seem a bit unfair because they aren't the same Grade, so I also want to look at Personal Armor 5 (Good). I'm less familiar with that one and don't have the books at present, so I'll edit the post as required when I get home, but from memory:

• PA5 absorbs 10? Harm* per attack, vs. infinite. Again, directionality is the balancing factor but GB is considerably more powerful and works on all sorts of harm. I believe PA5 only works against preternatural as well, not entirely sure. Point goes to GB.
• PA5 can likely absorb more total harm than GB before being destroyed, but not nearly as much. Still, they're equal Grade so it's a wash.
• PA5 has a finite duration; GB as written does not. Point to GB again.
• PA5 has no other benefits that I can recall. GB has the scythe of death. Point to GB.

---

So it's up two or three arbitrary points in comparing it to similar activations -- it seems to me that it does need some sort of drawback to restore that balance. I think it's fair to say that my initial assessment of having it discharge upon the scythe activating wasn't the best choice. I do like Avurax's own suggestion of having Harm caused deducted from the remaining protection, though I think a small factor is required.

In this LM's opinion the additional spell wording would be:
"As the scythe's energy is sourced from the misty force, any Harm dealt in this fashion reduces the backguard's protection by 150% of the Harm inflicted by the scythe."

Practically speaking this is sufficient to deal damage to and completely absorb the attacks of perhaps three or four would-be backstabbers, and/or protect against a significantly large quantity of missile fire. I think that's quite fair, considering the Grade.

I am not sure a comparison is the best way, but if you are going to do it, then I suggest you compare personal Shielding instead.

PS1 takes 12 points and up to 200 points before going away. (Very Good)
PA5 takes 100% of damage and 500 points of damage. (Extreme)

Grim Backguard takes 100%, but it can only take 80-100 points of damage.
It also only protects from behind.

Any use of PA or PS prevents the use of Grim. Or should I say if you cast Grim, it negates the other spells. So, while you get good protection from attacks on your back, that is traded for far less protection in front. Personally, I would rather be using PA5 all the time instead of anything else.

One more thing to consider. When Gary writes "all harm" or "100%" in most cases it seems he means only up to 20 points. While it is left out of the Grim description, it seems reasonable to conclude that it protects only 20 points. I would not do so, because I do not see Grim as anything that needs to be tempered. But, if I was going to make a change, then I would say it can only adsorb 20 points per hit.

I guess I look at it this way. Very rarely is anything unbalanced in a way that requires me to change the spell. If something seems "too powerful" there I just through more powerful things at them.

I did, I compared both PS5 and PA5 against GB in my previous post. NEWTAA*.

Another reasonable way of doing things.


On that point I heartily disagree. I find I need to make LM calls all the time, due to the author's omission of some minor detail. Apparently that's by design.

*Now enough with the Activation acronyms.

Making GM calls because of bad writing? Yes. There are many things left out of rules and descriptions. I do not believe this activation is one of them.

I mean, so what if the person is immune to back attacks (which is even stronger than this spell)? There are many other angles to attack at, and likely to be attacked from. If need be, one can always equip someone with a boomerang. Through it in front of the PC and then let it come back and his the PC in the front. Problem solved.

So, I can always find creative ways to get around any obstacle a player (or GM) throws my way.