Another concept we currently do not support would be Shaman's and other types of spirit oriented magic.
Unless we just use RP flair to cover that and the character believes that his power comes from the spirits.
Silent as a shadow on padded feet...
Hex [M:40:1020:][D3v:http://rpgmenagerie.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=cs&thread=483&page=1#17914][b]"As the iron leaves fall, our attack will spring..."[/b]
Currently It would just be a matter of RP. Play out the character beliveing that he/she is drawing on the spirits of the different elements to access the magic. He's not throwing up a wall of water, he's calling on the spirits in the water to protect him...
Aegil has something kinda similar going on with Spectre. As a GM I've been considering it to be a source for some of her magic and lore knowledge and she's been going with that as well. The system is still the same and it works within the rules, its just RPed differently to give it a diferent feel.
So is there a possibility that magic is more than just bending based on your description, so it's more like extended bending? (A legitimate question)
If that question is aimed at me, my answer is : hell if I know. I didn't create the system and as far as I can tell the nature of magic, what magic _is_ isn't strictly defined anywhere.
I think it should stay that way.
I was just throwing out a concept I had that I believed could be fun and well role played inside the system that's already in place.
@grayell + GM's I do wonder though if magic is something anyone can learn and pick up, or is it something where you have to be born with some sort of innate connection to it? Are mages innately special/gifted or do they just have access to the right education?
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
I would say its more about what the character believes. If the character belives its something that you have to be born with and he/she was not born with it, then it would be harder, if not impossible for that character to learn magic.
Playing out a character's belief system seems to be a good answer to making magic "different" for each player. Perhaps some self imposed constraints. they have to speak certain words for it to work or something like that. Or some concepts just dont occur to the character. A blood mage who only uses it to fuel his body because he just doesnt get the idea of using it to attack... It may restrict what your character can do, but it also helps to develop them and make them different from the mage next to them while still working within the system.
A quick word. I won't be complicating things with the system, or enforcing cool downs, casting times and materials and such. I want to flesh it out by giving some more guidelines and encouraging people to elaborate on their magic use. We don't have castes or classes, so conventional ideas are not going to stick.
Fleshing out is all good, but not at the cost of complication. We're still about story telling more than rpg stats
Ok, so Shen and I are starting to get a handle on the direction we're going with this and no, there will not be a new magic system. There won't be a great deal of anything new about it in fact, as that was not the intention.
Consider it a refining.
When done, the article should be the definitive framework for magic use. What leads to fatigue, different common things and how they work with different elements, things you should consider between your element and another and the like, common tricks and some varied ones, the similarities between elements and then the stark contrasts.
Magic will need to be quantified in very general terms to at last stipulate how much fatigue is too much and when a level 5 person burns out compared to someone of a lower level and such. What even is a level 5 and so on.
Ritual will be mentioned a great deal more but he background of that will be up to the player as again, we like to offer freedom. Whether you're just some gifted oddity or incredibly religious is up to the player. I don't care where your power comes from but it will all be balanced regardless.
The making of magic items is a no. It is a balance nightmare. Enuyu, your character concept seems complex to me, more than likely to complex for our ruleset. I truly appreciate your input though.
Physics will not play any part in magic, it's meant to be fun. It doesn't have to make sense. The actual guidelines for magic use will be of much benefit to users as I think it will allow a bit more freedom than what we actually have now in all honesty.
A couple more things.
Kiga does not fly, we do not allow flying. He does certainly get aerial and that is due to his agility and wind magic. Any wind practitioner can lift their own body, extend a leap. He is entirely built to do this in the extreme. His board does not fly, it just hovers. He propels it with his magic and pays for all of his use. There is no flying in this game.
There is no raising the dead or necromancy. We have to allow resurrection because people get very upset when they get killed. It has not happened in this game yet. It can and will happen. I personally believe there is a moment when the player is just outright neglecting all common sense and relying on the GM to let them get away with rampant stupidity. And nothing caps god modding like death. Neglect a threat that can kill you and I promise IT WILL KILL YOU. That might not seem like fun, but it should be part of any role playing game.
I saw a mention of arrows there and again, stacking magical effects on weapons via ammo is not going to happen. Order a bow that does something nifty. We don't have to cater to everything, we have tried that in the past and it was a pain.
The third dawn had a very deep, stat based system. We had to do math to conduct battle and there was a lot of PVP. It was a fantastic game and if anything could have improved it, I think it would have been to use the system we have now.
You have my assurance that we will be answering a lot of questions but will be maintaining the freedom and fun factor.
Oh Enuyu? The character's background and reason for their magical abilities will remain their own. Gray started with gradual, intuitive magic. His use of it is crude and rather aggressive, as it's fueled by battle lust and emotion.
Others could create complex structures, given the time and training if they desire.
Thank you all for your input, I will be starting on this immediately as I think I have adequate information to work with. If you have any other input, please post as soon as you have the time.
Ok, so Shen and I are starting to get a handle on the direction we're going with this and no, there will not be a new magic system. There won't be a great deal of anything new about it in fact, as that was not the intention.
:::content cut for space:::
There is no raising the dead or necromancy. We have to allow resurrection because people get very upset when they get killed. It has not happened in this game yet. It can and will happen. I personally believe there is a moment when the player is just outright neglecting all common sense and relying on the GM to let them get away with rampant stupidity. And nothing caps god modding like death. Neglect a threat that can kill you and I promise IT WILL KILL YOU. That might not seem like fun, but it should be part of any role playing game.
I saw a mention of arrows there and again, stacking magical effects on weapons via ammo is not going to happen. Order a bow that does something nifty. We don't have to cater to everything, we have tried that in the past and it was a pain.
The third dawn had a very deep, stat based system. We had to do math to conduct battle and there was a lot of PVP. It was a fantastic game and if anything could have improved it, I think it would have been to use the system we have now.
You have my assurance that we will be answering a lot of questions but will be maintaining the freedom and fun factor.
I am all for this. "You have my Axe!" Though I have a slightly different opinion on the whole death and resurrection thing. If it's being allowed just to keep folks from being upset, then honestly? I say let people be upset. If they're getting their panties in a twist about character death they haven't had much in the way of good experience with proper RPG's. Being a hero and/or adventurer is a dangerous line of work. A lot of the time you're basically homeless, there's no health plan, and then you die. If you're lucky you come into riches or ancient forbidden knowledge or something else that will set you up with a cushy life for a while, but sooner or later things catch up to you or you just get in over your head. That's the way it is. Or at least that's always been my experience with it. Retirement is a dream that happens for few. A good death is the best for many. And the rest lay in unmarked graves or the bellies of beasts.
If you want a long, prosperous and BORING life, be a cloth merchant. If you want to be a Rock Star and dead at 27, be a hero or an adventurer.
Oh Enuyu? The character's background and reason for their magical abilities will remain their own. Gray started with gradual, intuitive magic. His use of it is crude and rather aggressive, as it's fueled by battle lust and emotion.
Others could create complex structures, given the time and training if they desire.
Cool beans. So there might be a place somewhere that has a full fledged school of magic. Maybe a character was taken under the wing of the local hedge wizard. Maybe you just figured it out in a moment of need one day. Or any other good story a player can come up with.
"You have my axe!"
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Post by Enuyu Suhishi on Feb 19, 2013 9:09:11 GMT -5
Oh, about Earth Magic : a clever earth mage might take a cue from lodestone and start generating magnetic fields; and the entire can of worms that opens up.
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.
Putting this here, but it would also tie into the thread about Healing Magic versus Medicine. Since Shen is involved in both I'll just post it once.
Thorn elves use a corrupted form of healing magic to warp and mutate living things. (animals and plants) True Healing Magic is the only current known way to counteract it. And only if the animal or plant was not born with the mutation.
Just a thought. We are considering a mages level in a certain area and their acclaim when deciding how effective and how drained they become.
Should we also consider how much TOTAL magic level they have?
Making devoted mages that have ranks in multiple areas be able to cast more and better spells than someone who only knows one area...
I don't think so.
We aren't talking about a mana pool here. It's about how much it takes out of a person to drive their body and mind to produce an effect. Having the skill/ability to draw on multiple elements isn't going to make you any better at staving off fatigue. On the other hand, endurance is probably a factor.
Of course, I could be wrong.
Ha HA! I kill you with my flaming sword of doom. You die.