Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Leatra]

Hmmm...
Regenerating mana or restoring mana by resting?
Maybe it would be better if we followed the way of Dungeons & Dragons when it comes to spell casting (Excluding rituals of course. I like that idea). Wizards are pretty much useless when they run out of spells and they aren't unbalanced. They are also weak at low levels. I don't know...

Anyway, I'll just read the other suggestions about this topic

[Aklyon]

Even if magic takes preperation, Magic Missile is always a good emergency backup thing to have on hand.

[Blaze]

I say we go with Master of Magic's casting system. Mana lets you cast spells, and your channeling ability shows how much you can use at once.

So if you cast a spell that costs 5 mana with your channeling at 20, you can do so immediately and reduce your available channeling to 15. If you try to cast one that costs 40 mana, you'll need time to cast said spell, depending on how quickly you can "recharge".

I also suggest the use of "focus" items, which increase your channeling and mana so long as it's available for use; said item could even have it's own Mana/Channel/Recharge stats. These could range from simple wands/staves to gigantic magical orbs that are towed along behind your army with your legions of undead slaves and such.

Also, the use of Metamagic would be nice too. You could expend extra mana/channel to increase the effects of your spell or change it in some way, such as targeting specific units/groups, prolonging its duration, changing it's damage type, etc.

[Ivefan]

If you are directly casting, you'll grow fatigued; rituals, however, might just depend on time, resources, and other factors. As I said above in this long reply, magic will be very strong, but very rare. I do like the volcano-raising idea! Possibly none will be of quite THAT power... but, then, maybe they will. We'll just have to see! Chances are, big battles are going to be especially big, so magic is going to have to scale.

I have a rather... complex magic system thought out but i think it will not be that suitable to your game because it would shift the focus of what you're trying to do.

Well, if your wizards can split the earth and swallow entire armies, why bother with an army at all.  Just recruit a bunch of wizards!

A mage need something between himself and the sharp pointy objects that others want to put in his body.

As long as a mage can undisturbed unleash is powers it would be a one sided battle, unless the other side have some nullifying capacity.
When both sides have mages it becomes less flashy as then the mages job is to nullify/unravel/counter the other mages spells and if they're equally strong, no spells will be cast at all.

Blaze mentions Channeling ability, which sounds like a good measure of a mages strength. As this is a rougelike i assume that actions is measured in ticks.
Example 1:
You're a crappy novice mage, your ability is at 1 and you want to throw a firebolt in the face of that approaching bandit.
But firebolt costs 3, so with just 1 in ability it will take you 3 turns before it fires.

Example 2; Mage duel:
Mage A got 20, Mage B got 22.
The mages elect to dedicate their power to counter the other one, But mage B got 2 points more than A.
Mage B is then free to use those two points to cast spells.
Does this mean that Mage A is screwed? That depends on other factors such as his army being larges and can take the casualities, or Mage A got items he can draw power from, a ritualistic summoning that only needs knowledge and no channeling.
Maybe A Isnt that strong in raw power, but is trained in counter magics, i.e. 20+4 vs 22.


My own little system is based on the theory "power is drawn from an aspected source, limited by ability"
Sources would be realms/domains which is connected to the mundane world in different ways. Such as the elemental domains being intertwined visibly with the world as fire being strong in a desert, water on and by the sea etc.
Divine magic is limited to what the caster's god is willing to give.
Necromantic magic is drawn from living beings, where blood is used as fuel. The potency of the blood would be based on multiple factors such as health, age, magical traits or being a sentient or not. Drawing power from the dead and dying on the battle field would just yield a fraction of what a controlled ritual draining would.

The different mages would fall into the categories of;
Innate, where the mage channels his own power reserves, a quick but corporal fatiguing way of casting. An elementalist born with an affinity for fire would use his power as a conduit to manipulate the fire realm, drawing upon heat in the surrounding.

Knowledge/Ritualistic which is the use of arcane symbols, letters, language, geometrics, to form a spell, a target and the conduit.

And i got sidetracked. not much of this is useful in game mechanics.
Simply summarized. Channeling ability which determines the speed the mage can draw from a power pool, innate or external to fuel spells

[Pandarsenic]

Well, if your wizards can split the earth and swallow entire armies, why bother with an army at all.  Just recruit a bunch of wizards!

A mage need something between himself and the sharp pointy objects that others want to put in his body.

Something... like... magic?

[Frumple]

Mindcontrolled meatshields, anyway. Or maybe just walking shields of actual meat, crafted from the flesh and bone of former foes... and maybe a few annoying allies. Metal would probably be more effective, in general (golems!), but organics would let you do all sorts of neat tricks. Acid blood, tentacles, so on, so forth. Probably a moral penalty involved with fighting abominations of flesh and bone, too, which would be a bonus!

... but you could put cannons on top of golems. So artillery or squick. Tough choice, hrm. Well. There's always magical cyborg equivalents. Why choose, when you can have both?

[klingon13524]

So will all potions be good? Will you immediately know what they are, or will it be like Nethack? Also, this game needs spontaneous combustion potions. It sets the skin of whoever's blood it's on on fire for a moment. Will give them some nasty burns, and would catch flammable clothing on fire. Tip your arrows with it, or throw it at and stab someone for a surprise assassination!

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

Firstly, new blog entry on THE Z-AXIS!!!! http://www.ultimaratioregum.co.uk/game/2011/11/28/adventures-on-the-z-axis/ - I've also added some updates to the site, re-done the design slightly, and added Twitter & Facebook links to the right so they're easier to find. I'm also going to widen the comments area soon, I think...

Even if magic takes preperation, Magic Missile is always a good emergency backup thing to have on hand.

Very true. *nods seriously*

I say we go with Master of Magic's casting system. Mana lets you cast spells, and your channeling ability shows how much you can use at once.

So if you cast a spell that costs 5 mana with your channeling at 20, you can do so immediately and reduce your available channeling to 15. If you try to cast one that costs 40 mana, you'll need time to cast said spell, depending on how quickly you can "recharge".

I also suggest the use of "focus" items, which increase your channeling and mana so long as it's available for use; said item could even have it's own Mana/Channel/Recharge stats. These could range from simple wands/staves to gigantic magical orbs that are towed along behind your army with your legions of undead slaves and such.

Also, the use of Metamagic would be nice too. You could expend extra mana/channel to increase the effects of your spell or change it in some way, such as targeting specific units/groups, prolonging its duration, changing it's damage type, etc.

That's a very detailed analysis, and magic still needed a lot more thought. There will definitely be items that enhance casting, but I'm not sure how they will work. Similarly on the metamagic idea, I think I will allow you to put magically-attuned people in your army; but, of course, they will be flimsy and weak, so a liability if they come under attack.

I have a rather... complex magic system thought out but i think it will not be that suitable to your game because it would shift the focus of what you're trying to do.

Simply summarized. Channeling ability which determines the speed the mage can draw from a power pool, innate or external to fuel spells

I think the 'drawing power' idea is an interesting one. I'm vaguely brainstorming some ideas involving other powers in the URR world and how they'd play into something like this. I really like those suggestions, though! I'll get back to you on what it's going to look like on this end in a while, though

Mindcontrolled meatshields, anyway. Or maybe just walking shields of actual meat, crafted from the flesh and bone of former foes... and maybe a few annoying allies. Metal would probably be more effective, in general (golems!), but organics would let you do all sorts of neat tricks. Acid blood, tentacles, so on, so forth. Probably a moral penalty involved with fighting abominations of flesh and bone, too, which would be a bonus!

... but you could put cannons on top of golems. So artillery or squick. Tough choice, hrm. Well. There's always magical cyborg equivalents. Why choose, when you can have both?

Yep, definitely. Ordinarily folk won't like fighting with certain creatures, certain monsters, etc. On the other hand, some species will be very happily to fight with other species, so managing that will be part of whatever strategy you employ. As a starter, paying your soldiers more will stop them whining! And yes, I hope you will be able to have both...

So will all potions be good? Will you immediately know what they are, or will it be like Nethack? Also, this game needs spontaneous combustion potions. It sets the skin of whoever's blood it's on on fire for a moment. Will give them some nasty burns, and would catch flammable clothing on fire. Tip your arrows with it, or throw it at and stab someone for a surprise assassination!

Nope; you won't know what potions are. Shopkeepers will always tell you what a potion is, unlike Nethack, but there will probably be quite a lot, and even city shopkeepers won't have many. There should be as many poisons as potions - I've implemented a very simple Gorgon Blood potion which is great fun to play about with, and turn people to statues with...

[Untouchable]

So bottles of Gorgons Blood?

Methinks we need to use them as some form of artillery.

[Ultima Ratio Regum]

So bottles of Gorgons Blood?

Methinks we need to use them as some form of artillery.

Oh yes. They'll be rare, but they will definitely be usable in catapults.

[Ahra]

what about screaminŽ magical skulls for the catapults for extra mind-fuck?

[klingon13524]

So bottles of Gorgons Blood?

Methinks we need to use them as some form of artillery.

Oh yes. They'll be rare, but they will definitely be usable in catapults.

What effect would diluting potions like that have?

[Ivefan]

What effect would diluting potions like that have?

Constipation

[Edmus]

If you decide magic can be drawn from a source would some areas make this easier, or harder?
Like a place devoid of all life such as an ancient desert battleground, the opposite being a hippy forest grove like thing.

[Ivefan]

If you decide magic can be drawn from a source would some areas make this easier, or harder?
Like a place devoid of all life such as an ancient desert battleground, the opposite being a hippy forest grove like thing.

In my opinion, that would depend on what you are trying to do.
Say that a necromantic type of magic siphons/leeches/drains power from living things i'd say you'd have a larger power pool in the forest while on the battlefield you would have the materials to make undeads or force spirits to attack your opponent.