Magic Stuff

[HR-Trevor]

I wanted to update everyone on some things re: magic in Live.

1. After some thought and planning, I don't think we're going to use the "PREP <spell> <power level>" system. I've planned out a nice set of spells (a huge list of them) and I think the only way I could accomodate the power-based system wherein you choose how much power to feed a spell is if we were to have fewer spells and/or you receive spells less often.

2. A lot of the spells in the list are upgrades of previous spells. For instance, there's a spell to lighten weapons called LIGHTEN WEAPON, ingeniously enough. It comes in several flavors, INFERIOR LIGHTEN WEAPON, GREATER LIGHTEN WEAPON, etc. By the way, the purpose of the spell is to reduce the weight of -all- weapons a person is holding or carrying, and it can be cast on yourself or others. It's a temporary effect, of course.

3. I see a lot of utility spells of value here that will make Mages a community asset. For example, a Mage can temporarily lighten both weapons and armor, or even lighten the weight of a container and all of its contents. Mages can augment focus regeneration in an area, and so on.

4. Some of the Mage spells have special conditions or detrimental side effects. For instance, a spell that only works on mechanical NPC's, or a spell that can only be used from a certain altitude or terrain.

5. Every Mage will choose an element they are trained most in: heat, cold, electricity or erosion.

6. Every Mage will choose a school they are trained most in: alteration, elemental, summoning or time/space.

7. Spells are -only- available to Mages, short of items that have spells imbued in them.

8. Some spells are "cantrips". Typically emergency abilities, cantrips have no prep requirement, you just cast it at will. An example is an ice wall that encases the Mage, shielding them from damage but also preventing them from moving or attacking.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy

[Brokyn]

[HR-Trevor]

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[HR-Trevor]

That's doable, but very complex, especially for just one profession out of the twelve. Unless I can think of an easy way to code it so it's not as bad as it sounds when I first read it over.

-IF- I can get such as idea to work, then I see a couple of notables:

+. You'd be able to name your own spells I think. You're creating the spell, so why not?

-. You'd lose the originality factor. Part of the structure I have written up right now makes it so no mage can have near all the possible spells and with this proposal eventually everyone would have all the spells. Unless there are a limited number of components you can choose (say if you pick fire and ice, you don't have any more picks left so you miss out on erosion/lightning), but this could get dicey in that no one will know what gives what and I see some people really upset later if they made a bad choice in their view. I don't see promising any sort of re-selection process as a valid solution unless it has a high experience cost.
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"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy

[Seth Ventril]

Not to compare (Not at all, 2 completely different games), but DR had a good system. You could purchase spell slots and erase previously learned spells for your TDP's (Stat points). Cost a helluva lot though. If you wanted to go with Yaru's suggestion, I see this as a valid means to people who select their spells hastily/whathaveyou.

That's about all I could think of for this. Only one game I've ever played a mage in and that was DR, and only because Moon Mage was one of two non-combat classes. (And I hate healing. So empath was out.)
_________________
Victim: Well, what is the creed?
Assassin: It's very secret, passed down for hundreds of generations. If I told you, I'd have to kill you.
Victim: Aren't you already killing me anyway?
Assassin: That's a good point...The creed is..."Stick them with the pointy end." - Ctrl+Alt+Del parody of Assassin's Creed.
---
TELEPATHY [close]:  Yaru Dex - "Great now you made Mickey cry. Thanks a lot, Seth."
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Korell Ventril exclaims, "Choo ain no guard! Choo a crackhead!"

[Brokyn]

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[HR-Trevor]

Actually, the one real benefit that I didn't see mentioned in your response there is the sense of progression. Even if it's an upgrade to something you already have, getting an extra spell in your list reguarly is an accomplishment.

Getting to cast an existing spell at a higher power level has a less prominent feel of accomplishment, IMO.

Example 1:
15 skill - new spell A.
30 skill - new spell B.
45 skill - new spell C.
60 skill - upgrade spell A.
75 skill - new spell D.
90 skill - upgrade spell B.
etc.

Example 2:
15 skill - new spell A.
30 skill - cast spell A at a higher focus.
45 skill - cast spell A at a higher focus.
60 skill - new spell B & cast spell A at a higher focus.
75 skill - cast spell A, B at a higher focus.
90 skill - cast spell A, B at a higher focus.
etc.

I think it's a matter of opinion, so the more opinions the merrier. I should note that example 1 isn't fully accurate in that you also receive the "upgrade" of having more FP to use for casting, which is essentially moot in example 2 since costs go up more consistently.
_________________
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy

[HR-Trevor]

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[HR-Trevor]

Isn't a spell slot ever worth it though? The two (spell slot from levelling and spell slot from purchase/erase) don't sound exclusive to each other. It's stat raises vs. spell slot as I understand it, not spell slot vs. spell slot, unless there's a cap on how many spell slots you can have at X level.
_________________
"Wise men talk because they have something to say; fools, because they have to say something." -- Plato

-- Trevor Rage / Rich Mondy

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[Brokyn]