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DF Suggestions / Re: Creating a magic system?
« on: February 22, 2009, 05:52:05 pm »
I have to admit I was initially rather hostile to the idea of "high" magic in DF, but there are some good suggestions here. Well here's my 2☼.
Wizards
I think that wizards should draw their power from some kind of ambient "mana pool" defined by the local environment. This could be set up during world-gen in by a similar algorithm as the one used to create mountain ranges, effectively a kind of magical geography. This gives wizards a reason to build towers in particular areas, in order to tap this mana. Mana would be collected using a collect_mana skill in which the wizard draws from a source (the environment) to a sink (himself). This process would obey rules akin to the laws of themodynamics, so it is easier to draw mana in high mana regions and some of the mana is lost each time (entropy). This entropic process could be abstracted in world-gen as a steady decrease in total mana across the entire world over time. Once the mana is collected it can then be used to enchant objects or cast spells using the magic_user skill.
The wizards themselves arise as a result of possessed or fell moods (again this can be abstracted during world-gen). All possessed and fell moods will produce magical artifacts but only a small percentage of these also grant magical abilities, this percentage would depend on the ambient mana level as would the chance of getting a possessed or fell mood. Wizards will be one of three types:
-Wandering wizards who have not yet found a school (this includes any of your own dwarves who become magic users). These can be given lodgings and act as a sort of noble practicing their magic and fighting off your enemies. If their demands are not met they would be likely to up and leave heading for greener pastures.
-School wizards who are part of a wizard school, each school will have up to half a dozen of these, as well as practicing magic they will act as field commanders and diplomats.
-Sorcerers who are the head of a school of wizards, each school would be about as powerful as a single civilization and would act as one on the world map. Sorcerers would emerge in a similar way to wizards but only from the existing pool of magic users.
Magical accidents
Occasionally the use of magic might result in catastrophic events ranging from the classic "thermomagicular explosion" to earthquakes magma rains or the - probably easier to implement - "resonance cascade" which spawns hordes of demons/undead and/or megabeasts. perhaps all megabeast are created this way?
Megabeasts
Speaking of which megabeasts are another thing which could be included in this system. Megabeasts would spawn in world-gen semi randomly in proportion to ambient mana levels. This means that like wizards their number would start at zero then increase and after - say 200 years - would begin to decrease as more are killed than created. This has the effect of dividing up time into an "Age of Legends" when magic and megabeasts reign supreme an "Age of Man(or dwarves)" in which magic is mostly subdued and a "Middle Age" between the two.
Mega-Artifacts
These would be rare and sought-after artifacts created occasionally by wizards in strange moods (including one produced every time a wizard becomes a sorcerer). They would be powerful enough for civilizations to go to war over, especially wizard schools. a number of these might get created during world-gen and scattered, lost in bogs/chasms, dropped in battle, stolen by megabeasts etc. These might re-surface periodically when found by adventurers or dug up in mines provoking a battle for their acquisition.
Wizards
I think that wizards should draw their power from some kind of ambient "mana pool" defined by the local environment. This could be set up during world-gen in by a similar algorithm as the one used to create mountain ranges, effectively a kind of magical geography. This gives wizards a reason to build towers in particular areas, in order to tap this mana. Mana would be collected using a collect_mana skill in which the wizard draws from a source (the environment) to a sink (himself). This process would obey rules akin to the laws of themodynamics, so it is easier to draw mana in high mana regions and some of the mana is lost each time (entropy). This entropic process could be abstracted in world-gen as a steady decrease in total mana across the entire world over time. Once the mana is collected it can then be used to enchant objects or cast spells using the magic_user skill.
The wizards themselves arise as a result of possessed or fell moods (again this can be abstracted during world-gen). All possessed and fell moods will produce magical artifacts but only a small percentage of these also grant magical abilities, this percentage would depend on the ambient mana level as would the chance of getting a possessed or fell mood. Wizards will be one of three types:
-Wandering wizards who have not yet found a school (this includes any of your own dwarves who become magic users). These can be given lodgings and act as a sort of noble practicing their magic and fighting off your enemies. If their demands are not met they would be likely to up and leave heading for greener pastures.
-School wizards who are part of a wizard school, each school will have up to half a dozen of these, as well as practicing magic they will act as field commanders and diplomats.
-Sorcerers who are the head of a school of wizards, each school would be about as powerful as a single civilization and would act as one on the world map. Sorcerers would emerge in a similar way to wizards but only from the existing pool of magic users.
Magical accidents
Occasionally the use of magic might result in catastrophic events ranging from the classic "thermomagicular explosion" to earthquakes magma rains or the - probably easier to implement - "resonance cascade" which spawns hordes of demons/undead and/or megabeasts. perhaps all megabeast are created this way?
Megabeasts
Speaking of which megabeasts are another thing which could be included in this system. Megabeasts would spawn in world-gen semi randomly in proportion to ambient mana levels. This means that like wizards their number would start at zero then increase and after - say 200 years - would begin to decrease as more are killed than created. This has the effect of dividing up time into an "Age of Legends" when magic and megabeasts reign supreme an "Age of Man(or dwarves)" in which magic is mostly subdued and a "Middle Age" between the two.
Mega-Artifacts
These would be rare and sought-after artifacts created occasionally by wizards in strange moods (including one produced every time a wizard becomes a sorcerer). They would be powerful enough for civilizations to go to war over, especially wizard schools. a number of these might get created during world-gen and scattered, lost in bogs/chasms, dropped in battle, stolen by megabeasts etc. These might re-surface periodically when found by adventurers or dug up in mines provoking a battle for their acquisition.