I've been thinking, since the magic system will likely be tied-in with the current sphere system, maybe it would be useful to make a compilation of suggestions for the magical effects and attributes of each current sphere. This would be stuff like potential spell effects, environmental effects, effects on objects and critters, etc. Since the current list of spheres is rather large, I thought that it would be fun to make this a sort of community effort. In essence, take any of the current spheres (
http://dwarffortresswiki.org/index.php/DF2014:Sphere) and suggest whatever magical effects you think should be associated with it. These would be, as I said:
1. Spell effects - what kind of spells are potentially enabled by this sphere's magic? These could be anything from minor cantrips to region-shatterers
2. Environmental effects - what kind of effects does a high concentration of this sphere's magic have on the surroundings? This could range from almost imperceptible to reality-bending
3. Weather effects - does a high presence of this magic potentially produce unique weather?
4. Creature effects - what kind of effects does a high concentration of this sphere's magic (either inherent or temporary) in an individual creature have?
5. Object effects - what kind of effects does a high concentration of this sphere's magic (either inherent or temporary) in an individual object have?
6. Rituals and enhancers - are there types of rituals that are more innately connected to this sphere than most? e.g. sky magic being affected by the presence of the open sky, day magic being affected by whether it is actually daytime, etc.
7. Plant effects - what kind of effects does a high concentration of this sphere's magic (either inherent or temporary) in an individual plant have?
Also, it would be useful to describe at what sphere-intensity the effects usually tend to start appearing. Sphere-intensity is basically how prominent sphere-aligned magics are in an area/creature/object/whatever. I would personally divide it into 4 categories:
- LOW is for magic that is above ambient levels, but is usually not perceptible to the untrained eye. Effects in this category should be subtle - animals avoiding the area, water flowing more rapidly, lights being brighter than usual, a sense of unease permeating the area, etc.
- MEDIUM is for magic significantly above ambient levels. At this point, even non-magic users should be able to tell that there's something off about it, and visibly magical things might occur. Effects in this category shouldn't be too overt, but usually won't need a keen eye to notice - e.g. animals acting in a visibly erratic fashion, water flowing unnaturally fast, lights being uncomfortable to look at, a constant feeling of being watched, rare auditory hallucinations, etc.
- HIGH is for magic much above ambient levels. At this point, it should be exceedingly obvious to anyone that the area/object/creature in question is magical, and the laws of physics and logic might break down in places. The signs are overt and instantly noticeable, and even a layman might be able to tell which sphere the magic is associated with - e.g. water flowing uphill, shadows being absent entirely, visual hallucinations, etc.
- EXTREME is for places, creatures and things where the magic has completely overwhelmed the normal laws of physics and logic. Areas permanently affected by this level of magic would presumably be rare in the normal world, but elemental planes are good examples of regions with this level of magic. Creatures that are inherently 'made' of some type of magic - e.g. fire elementals, would fall into this category. You can go wild with the suggestions here - imagination is the only limiter.
There's no need to adhere rigidly to this categorization, but I think that it gives some useful ballparks. Now, feel free to throw in your own suggestions! I'll add them to the OP, and we can make a compilation of the community's suggestions. You don't have to strictly abide by the format I'll gave, I can convert whatever suggestion you make into said format when adding it to the OP, to make everything more easily readable.
NOTIFICATION: I am no longer maintaining this list directly myself, but another helpful poster has done so instead. You can find the more up to date list here:http://www.bay12forums.com/smf/index.php?topic=173189.msg8376282#msg8376282Here's the list so far:
Index:
PART I: A TO C: (this post)
PART II:
D TO FPART III:
G TO MPART IV:
N TO ZGoogle Docs link(if anyone wants the whole thing in one place, for some reason. May be slightly out of date compared to forum version):
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1wLVpJxIKFffyHqGdU1LkY2NzJY9H0oiJZOm-doPT02A/editPART I: SPHERES A TO CAgricultureSpell effects:
- Enchant farm plots with the ability to grow plants that would otherwise be unable to take root in the current environment, e.g. tropical subterranean hemp farms. Skill of the magic user could limit the number of plots they can keep enchanted at once, determine how long a plot takes to enchant, or how long the plot remains enchanted for.
- Perform rituals that increase crop growth speed for the duration of the ritual. Skill of the magic user could determine how much faster the crops grow, or how many plots are affected by the ritual at once
- Transmute one type of seed into a different type of seed. Skill of the magic user could affect how long the transmutation takes, or how many seeds can be transmuted at once
- Build a special 2x2 farm plot that takes a single seed, and, over the course of maybe a year or so, if properly tended to, produces a single enormous multi-tile crop. Some crops may require a z level or two of headroom to grow full size, and just might require an axe to harvest. Skill level of the magic user could determine total yield, or the crop's tending requirements
- Till a tile or area.
- Sow a tilled tile or area.
- Harvest a tile or area of grown crops.
Environmental effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Gradually rising fertility for crops and other domesticated plants. At higher levels, even normally barren topsoil such as sand or stone may support extensive shrubbery.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- ‘Grassy’ crops such wheat or barley have fertility advantage over regular grass when competing for ground.
- At HIGH levels:
- ‘Grassy’ crops such wheat or barley have a significant fertility advantage over regular grass when competing for ground, in all likelihood completely replacing normal grass.
- Plantlife in the area slowly starts having it’s AGRICULTURE sphere rise, and benefits from all of the associated effects (see “plant effects” below)
- At EXTREME levels:
- Plantlife in the area sees it’s AGRICULTURE sphere rapidly rise, and benefits from all of the associated effects (see “plant effects” below)
- Animal life in the area sees it’s AGRICULTURE sphere slowly rise, and benefits from all of the associated effects (see “plant effects” below)
Creature effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Creature becomes more docile, leisurely, and calm, as if they have been tamed. Effects may remain permanent under long exposure.
- Creature gets a slight happy thought from being around planted crops, or eating them.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Creature shows vague similarities with one or more common domestic animals, e.g. wooly hair, barking when angry, bathing in mud frequently.
- Creature gets a moderate happy thought from being around planted crops, or eating them.
- At HIGH levels:
- Creature shows more obvious similarities with domestic animals, e.g. horizontal pupils, purring when happy, screaming at the top of their lungs every day at dawn
- A sentient creature utilizes your farm plots, planting its own crops which it later harvests. If your dwarves "steal" its crops, it becomes angry or otherwise gets an unhappy thought.
- Mundane domesticated animals would probably fall into this category
- At EXTREME levels:
- Creatures that are temporarily at this level of exposure may start producing harvestable materials such as wool or honey after some time.
- Creatures that are inherently at this level are vastly more productive compared to the average mundane farm animal, likely having the majority of their body parts be edible or useful in some fashion
Plant effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Plant is increasingly vigorous and adaptable, at higher levels being able to tolerate basically any environmental conditions.
- At LOW levels:
- Has a slightly extended gathering season.
- Poisonous plants have the potency of their poison significantly reduced.
- Food products made from the plant are intrinsically more filling when eaten.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Has a significantly extended gathering season.
- Harmful features such as thorns become less prominent and dangerous.
- Poisonous plants become safe to eat.
- Is very filling to eat.
- If not fruiting, may start producing fruits.
- Edible parts of the plant are noticeably larger than usual.
- At HIGH levels:
- Can be gathered year-round.
- Harmful features such as thorns disappear.
- Is extremely nutritious and filling.
- Starts producing fruits if it doesn’t already.
- Edible parts of the plant are far larger than usual.
- A random inedible part of the plant (e.g. bark) may become edible if a tree
- At EXTREME levels:
- Crops harvest and sow themself.
- Can be gathered year-round.
- No harmful features of any kind, except possibly self-defense mechanisms that selectively target vermin.
- Probably has more nutrients in a single edible part than all the food in a royal feast combined, creatures may feel full after just one bite.
- Every part of the plant is edible.
Object effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Weapons are slightly stronger against multi-tile plants and creatures made out of plant-matter, with the exception of normal trees.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Weapons are significantly stronger against multi-tile plants and creatures made out of plant-matter, with the exception of normal trees.
- Crops can be planted in, and then harvested, from the item. Basically, chair-flowerpots, coffer-flowerpots, sword-flowerpots. Depending on the item type, this lessens the normal usability of the item
- From this point onward, item auto-tills a tile or area, bigger as the magic in the item goes up.
- From this point onward, item auto-sows a tile or area, bigger as the magic in the item goes up.
- From this point onward, item auto-harvests a tile or area, bigger as the magic in the item goes up.
- At HIGH levels:
- A chest or other container refills itself with the products of agriculture (crops, seeds, wool, milk). It does so regularly (once a month, year, day), or even infinitely.
Spell effects:
- Summons a companion animal, or hostile animal
- Grant an animal sentience
- General healing and attribute buffs for animals
- Transform into an animal
- Turn a non-animal creature into an animal, possibly only partially. (werebeasts?)
- Turn an object into an animal.
- Turn a plant into an animal.
Environmental effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Unusually high animal populations
- Unusually high diversity of animal species
- New herds frequently migrate and leave
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Extraordinary abundance of animal life
- Grass grows very rapidly, and can support large herds
- Animals have larger litters when breeding
- At HIGH levels:
- Animals display an unusually high degree of intelligence, including the [CAN_LEARN] tag in some rare cases
- Animals may form a primitive, hive-mind like consciousness
- Intelligent animals may petition to join the fortress
- Animal people are common in these areas
- Animals of different species may interbreed
- At EXTREME levels:
- Animals may appear civilized
- Animals may form a fully sentient, hive-mind like consciousness
- Conversely, sentient creatures may lose the [CAN_LEARN] tag randomly and become animal-like over time
- Animal-like dwarves can be trained, sheared, milked or butchered
- Animals may spontaneously spring into existence, including new species
- Animals may spontaneously change species, or sentient creatures transform into animals
- The biome itself might be an animal, or at least made of animal tissues. Your dwarves may dig through layers of flesh and bone, only for the giant mole they're on to bury down into the earth, taking the fort with it.
Creature effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Creatures may be unusually large or small, or have atypical features for their species (furry lizards, for instance)
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Creatures appear as hybrids of other animal species, such as elephant-tigers
- At HIGH levels:
- Hybrid creatures become extraordinarily common, with great diversity
- At EXTREME levels:
- Multi-animal hybrids exist, such as whale-fox-horse-tigers
Plant effects:
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Vegetation may appear furry, scaly or have feathers instead of leaves
- At HIGH levels:
- Trees may make barking noises, or other animal-like vocalisations
- Trees howl in agony and bleed when cut
- Some trees may drop wool, silk or milk
Object effects:
- At LOW:
- Clothing item or trinket grants its wearer some of the traits of a certain animal, such as a minor strength increase from a bear cap, or better smell from an elephant seal sock.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Clothing item or trinket grants its wearer some of the traits of a certain animal, such as a minor strength increase from a bear cap, or better smell from an elephant seal sock.
- Objects may appear furry or scaly
- Objects may vocalise, or make purring noises when stroked
- At HIGH levels:
- Objects occasionally become animate, and move freely at will
- Clothing item transforms the wearer partway into an animal, giving them fur or scales etc. For a human, this transformation should essentially be into an animal man.
- Clothing item transforms the body part it is worn on of the wearer into that of an animal.
- At EXTREME levels:
- Clothing item transforms the wearer into a animal fully.
Spell effects:
- Animates a work of art
- Increases the quality of an artwork
- Recovers artwork that has been lost to vandalism
- Inspires the creation of an artefact
Environmental effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Art of somewhat higher quality than usual is produced
- The landscape may appear painted or sculpted
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Art of significantly higher quality than usual is produced
- New artefacts tend to be purely aesthetic objects
- Statues and engraved images may appear to watch people, or move on occasion
- Dwarves may notice a smell eminating from engravings of food objects
- Art desecration has much larger emotional impact than usual
- At HIGH levels:
- Artefacts produced with much higher frequency than usual
- Statue may come to life and move. Whether statues are friendly or hostile depends on their content and quality.
- Engravings may be described as moving scenes
- Statues may attack dwarves guilty of art desecration, or rampage if no particular dwarf is responsible
- Ghosts of desecrated artwork may attack if no proper memorial is made
- At EXTREME levels:
- Statues roam freely at all times
- Images from engravings may physically manifest. The wall left behind becomes bare.
Creature effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Creature's CREATIVITY increases.
- Creature appreciation for ARTWORK increases.
- Creature is increasingly ART_INCLINED.
- At LOW levels:
- Creature is seen as artful, and is slightly more often chosen as a favorite by those who value ARTWORK or are ART_INCLINED.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Non-sapient creature gets happy thoughts from witnessing art.
- Creature is seen as artful, and is often chosen as a favorite by those who value ARTWORK or are ART_INCLINED.
- At HIGH levels:
- Non-sapient creature gets happy thoughts from witnessing art.
- Creature is seen as artful, and is often chosen as a favorite by those who value ARTWORK or are ART_INCLINED. It may also give happy thoughts to them when observed.
Plant effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Plant is seen as artful, and is slightly more often chosen as a favorite by those who value ARTWORK or are ART_INCLINED.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Plant is seen as artful, and is often chosen as a favorite by those who value ARTWORK or are ART_INCLINED.
- At HIGH levels:
- Plant is seen as artful, and is often chosen as a favorite by those who value ARTWORK or are ART_INCLINED. It may also give happy thoughts to them when observed.
Object effects:
- At ALL levels:
- The object is seen as a piece of art, and grants happy thoughts to creatures that value ARTWORK or are ART_INCLINED. They also value it more, regardless of its practicality.
Spell Effects:
- Grant beauty to a creature, with all natural consequences that could have (higher charisma etc.)
- Enthrall creatures (sentients) with illusory beauty.
Environment Effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Ratios are used when generating geologic structures, such as the golden ratio and sqrt(2). This should hopefully make the biome more aesthetically pleasing to the player.
- Sentients view the biome as "beautiful" and get increasingly large happy thoughts from being there/seeing it.
- At HIGH to EXTREME levels:
- Sentients are enthralled by the biome, making the likelyhood of their leaving on their own smaller.
Creature Effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Creature is seen as beautiful by others (sentients), giving them an increasingly large happy thought when they see it.
- Creature body parts/materials have a increasingly higher VALUE.
- At HIGH to EXTREME levels:
- Creature is seen as beautiful by others (sentients), and can enthrall them with its beauty, either by accident or purposefully (for more sinister intents, such as predation, or simply to gain allies).
Plant Effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Plant or plant part is seen as beautiful by sentients, giving them a increasingly large happy thought when they see it.
- Plant parts/materials have an increasingly higher VALUE.
Spell effects:
- Drain a creature's life force, damaging their health or their physical abilities
- Cause flora and fauna in an area to wither and die
- Render soil infertile
- Render a creature infertile
Environmental effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Crop yields are lower than usual
- Plant growth in general is a bit stunted
- Water gets a stale character, even if flowing
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Wildlife avoids the area
- Crops don't grow at all, any existing crops wither and die
- Plant growth is visibly stunted, smaller plants may wither and die, while trees may lose leaves and have branches dry out
- Water has a slight fetid odor and tastes vile
- At HIGH levels:
- Wildlife avoids the area, may actively resist entering it if forced to
- Any creatures that have still remained in the area by this point have lost the will to leave, are emaciated and visibly unhealthy
- Ground is completely infertile to mundane plants
- Topsoil may become ashlike in places
- All mundane plants are completely dead
- Water has a strong, revolting odor and is toxic
- At EXTREME levels:
- Wildlife avoids the area, may actively resist entering it if forced to
- If any mundane creatures are still in the area and alive, are emaciated, emotionless husks of their former selves
- Ground is completely infertile to mundane plants
- Topsoil has largely been replaced by ash that extends down to bedrock. Area is permanently barren even if BLIGHT influence is lifted, barring the use of powerful magic
- Dead trees have become petrified
- Water emits toxic fumes, is lethal to take even a sip of
Creature effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Animals dislike and avoid the creature
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Animals fear and avoid the creature
- Any seeds planted by the creature won't grow
- At HIGH levels:
- Animals are terrified of the creature and will immediately try to flee
- Plant parts touched by the creature are likely to wither and die
- Creature may leave footprints of dead grass in their wake
- May gain an emaciated appearance. Skin may become grayish and colorless
- At EXTREME levels:
- Animals are terrified of the creature and will immediately try to flee
- Plants touched by the creature wither and die
- Bodies of water that the creature passes through may become toxic, if small enough
- Creature may leave ashy footprints
- Gains an emaciated appearance. Skin becomes grayish and colorless
- Mundane creatures in prolonged contact become emaciated and lose their willpower
Plant effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Increasing adaptability and tolerance to hostile environments
- At LOW levels:
- Animals won't eat the plant
- Fruits taste gross and don't restore any hunger
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Animals won't eat the plant
- Fruits taste vile (may cause throwing up) and cause even more hunger
- Has an unpleasant smell
- Mundane plants won't grow in the close vicinity of the plant
- Foliage appears as if withered
- At HIGH levels:
- Animals won't eat the plant
- Fruits taste vile (may cause throwing up), cause even more hunger and are poisonous
- Has a very unpleasant smell
- Mundane plants won't grow a significant distance from the plant
- Foliage appears as if withered, while woody parts may appear petrified in places
- At EXTREME levels:
- Animals won't eat the plant
- Fruits taste indescribably vile (cause throwing up), are lethal to most creatures
- Has a vile smell that may cause nausea
- Mundane plants won't grow a significant distance from the plant
- Topsoil gradually turns to ash around the plant
- Foliage appears withered, woody parts are petrified
- May drain the life force of nearby creatures
Spell effects:
- Unlock doors and gates that would rather stay closed. A magical version of lockpicking, basically, but using arcana of boundaries rather than mechanical guile. This ability shouldn't be flatly better than regular lockpicking, in most cases - speed, noise, lock level and magical protections would all factor into which one is more convenient
- Could be used to unlock/lock, open/close doors, gates, trapdoors, etc. remotely
- Reinforce physical boundaries - walls, doors and locks can all be made sturdier and more stubborn with some magical assistance
- Can grant the ability to pass through walls and other solids
- Associated spheres can be used to create physical barriers, such as walls of fire, water, stone, shadows, or even the air itself
- See the layout of magical boundaries, spot magical wards, protective circles, places where the veil between the worlds is thin, etc.
- Detect whether you have passed/are passing a boundary.
Environment effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Walls are unusually tough and cohesive, and will take just a little bit more punishment than they normally would
- Crossing into the area will make creatures feel a tinge of [pain/heat/disgust etc.] depending on other aligned spheres.l
- Locks are slightly trickier to lockpick than usual
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Walls are unnaturally tough and cohesive, and provide minor magic protection
- Biome border is cut off by some noticable a physical boundary, like some hills, a brook, or the foliage of trees.
- Locks are significantly trickier to lockpick than usual. Even simple, cheap padlocks taunt those that would have them opened with their magically-enhanced stubbornness
- Portals are more difficult to open
- At HIGH levels:
- Walls are impenetrable by normal means, and provide significant magic protection
- Biome border is cut off by a physical boundary which is difficult to pass, like a cliff or a flowing river.
- Locks are impossible to lockpick through traditional means
- Walls and doors may rarely shift
- Infiltrating someone's thoughts is significantly more difficult
- Portals are almost impossible to open
- Mundane materials take noticeably more effort to pierce
- At EXTREME levels:
- Walls are impenetrable by both normal and magical means
- Biome border is cut off by a magic barrier, or incredibly hard to pass physical boundary, like a massive cliff or a deep pit.
- Locks are impossible to lockpick through traditional means, and almost impossible through magical means
- Walls and doors often shift
- Infiltrating someone's thoughts is almost impossible
- Portals are almost impossible to open
- Even mundane materials are exceedingly difficult to pierce
Creature effects:
- At LOW levels:
- Populations of more dangerous creatures tend to congregate at various boundaries and borders, mostly physical at this level.
- Creature has slightly less trouble passing magically enhanced boundaries.
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Creature routes along a boundary or border.
- Potentially won't enter buildings/pass through doors or gates unless invited, but would depend on other factors too
- Creature gets [CANOPENDOORS].
- Creature has moderately less trouble passing magically enhanced boundaries.
- At HIGH levels:
- Creature guards a boundary or border strictly, attacking or otherwise preventing creatures and/or objects from passing it. It may allow one-way passage.
- Creature has much less trouble passing magically enhanced boundaries.
- At EXTREME levels:
- Creature can't physically pass a specific (type of) boundary, poofing if forced to.
- May be constricted to inhabiting areas around significant magical boundaries
- Creature can pass most magically enhanced boundaries with ease, though some may still be too hard for it to pass (depending on the relative strength of those spells in this world).
Object effects:
- At HIGH levels:
- Doors, trapdoors etc. that can be locked automatically by the player/with a spellword and not broken through. Basically what we have for current vanilla artifact doors.
- Sharp objects may be able to pierce magical boundaries
- May be able to arbitrarily pass through physical barriers
- At EXTREME levels:
- Sharp objects can pierce standard magical boundaries without much effort
- In places where the border between two planes is weak, may be able to breach it accidentally if sharp
- May be able to arbitrarily pass through physical barriers
Spell effects:
- Cast a wild, unpredictable magic
- Throw raw, destructive bolts of pure chaotic energy as weapons
- Summon a magical chaotic creature, if such creatures exist in the universe. It isn't exactly guaranteed to always do your bidding, but may be useful if you want to unleash as much mayhem as possible on an area
- Warp the laws of physics and logic, by e.g. temporarily 'turning off' gravity in an area
- Counter ORDER-based magic
- Influence creatures towards more chaotic personalities
Environmental effects:
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Animals in the area visibly behave erratically
- If any other magic is present in the area, it is more unpredictable than usual, may ebb and flow more strongly than normal
- Small objects may shift position for no reason
- At HIGH levels:
- Animals in the area behave illogically and apparently randomly
- If any other magic is present in the area, it is far more unpredictable than usual, ebbs and flows violently. May go from nearly absent and unusable to amplified and brutal in a matter of minutes
- Occasionally, magic normally not present in the area may briefly spawn, possibly causing interesting effects when interacting with other arcana
- Objects and creatures may randomly change their position
- The laws of physics sometimes break - gravity disappears in areas, water flows in completely wrong directions, objects may transform shape, etc.
- Rarely, objects may have a paradoxical description - e.g. brightly shining objects that are pitch black
- At EXTREME levels:
- Complete bedlam
- Magic is hopelessly unpredictable. The entire region is a mad vortex of appearing, disappearing, waxing and waning magics from across the cosmos. Any spells cast in the area will have wildly unpredictable results, if they work at all
- Everything is constantly changing position, size and shape
- The laws of physics and logic are contorted beyond recognition, changing wildly with space and time
- Objects and creatures frequently have paradoxical and oxymoronic descriptions
Creature effects:
- At ALL levels:
- Creature's respect of LAW decreases, affinity for DISCORD increases
- At LOW levels:
- Creature's values are more susceptible to change than normal
- At MEDIUM levels:
- Creature's values are far more susceptible to change than normal, may frequently change for no reason
- May sometimes do random actions for no readily apparent reason
- At HIGH levels:
- Creature's values and facets are constantly shifting and oscillating chaotically, never staying in a single place for a significant time
- Frequently does random actions for no readily apparent reason
- Bodily features may randomly change into something else, rarely
- At EXTREME levels:
- Creature's values and facets are always wildly oscillating, may become completely different in a manner of seconds
- Is defined by constant, random actions that make no sense
- Bodily features frequently change into something else, is basically a shapeshifter
- May have paradoxical and oxymoronic features
