Delay (spell)

Delay might also be referred to as Delay Spell to more easily differentiate it from Delay (enhancement).
in 2012 CCCwebs discussed a valid concern regarding combining it with Maintain Spell
:the spell that is being delayed isn't "active" until it has been triggered but it counts as a spell "on". :This is important as Maintain Spell can only be cast on an "active" spell.
:While the caster can use Maintain Spell on Delay (and thus Delay no longer counts as "on"),
:the caster can't cast Maintain Spell on the linked spell until after it has activated
:(which means that the linked spell still counts as "on").
:The combo of the two would only reduce the penalty to -1 for one spell "on" for each delayed spell that has Delay combined with Maintain Spell, not remove the penalty entirely.
However there would be a way around this, by using a 2nd Delay on a 2nd Maintain Spell, and then also casting a 3rd Maintain Spell on that 2nd Delay. For example:
*(1st) Delay + Bladeturning : activate when I am attacked by a blade
*(1st) Maintain Spell on (1st) Delay: don't count delay as an active spell and maintain it for energy-based investment
*(2nd) Delay + (2nd) Maintain spell: activate to maintain the Bladeturning spell once it is activated.
*(3rd) Maintain Spell on (2nd) Delay so that it will not count as an active spell to keep the prepped Bladeturning-maintainer
Using this strategy, it gets around the problem of not being able to maintain the spell ahead of time until it is cast: you simply delay the effect of maintain spell to begin once the spell activates.
The downside of this: since the caster loses control over (and cannot cancel) a spell he maintains, casting "Maintain Spell" on the Delay means he cannot prematurely cancel the spell if he doesn't want the delay to trigger.
For example:
*Delay: Flaming Weapon (trigger "if my sword is drawn from its scabbard")
*Maintain Spell on Delay
If a wizard then wanted to draw his sword without having it set on fire (perhaps he wants to be stealthy, or not show he has magic) he is out of luck: he cannot cancel Delay! He must either wait for Maintain Spell to expire (which might take a while depending on how much energy was invested) or have access to other spells to stop this from happening, such as:
*Counterspell to negate Delay
*Suspend Spell or Suspend Magic to suspend Delay
*Suspend Mana or Dispel Magic or Drain Manato negate all spells
*Steal Spell to regain control of Dispel and thus have the power to maintain it or cancel it.
Category:Spells
Category:Meta-Spell College